Trapped
by ShadowSpirits
Summary: (Sequel to Impacting Pain) **Chp.17 is up** Kuthos's reign of terror has yet to end. The beast has a total of 2/3 hikaris in posession, the third (thank Ra), he doesn't even know is in the city. So is his power going to drop by Mariku's hands..?
1. Death of a Loved

And now my glorious sequel to Impacting Pain, if you haven't read it, I suggest you do before this one. Eh, well, yadda yadda, this ain't a yaoi and crap, just a heads up. PG-13 for language and maybe violence later on, actually now that I think of it, there WILL be violence later on, but if you could handle Impacting Pain, you can handle this. Now onto the fic, after the disclaimer...that is.   
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh but I do own the name Akei (Yami Bakura's given name).  
  
  
******  
Bakura lay flat on his bed, staring at the ceiling and debating if he should take a nap. It was noon in his part of the world, mostly sunny with a light breeze and few clouds speckled through the air. A perfect day.   
  
Amazing how relaxation can be disturbed by the phone.  
  
Bakura tried ignoring it, but it just continued ringing over and over again.  
  
[Will you pick up that damn thing already?!]  
  
{It's not that annoying...}  
  
The boy's yami, now known as Akei to Bakura's friends, was sitting comfortably in his soul room. The phone's sound echoed through his dark room though, and trust me, if you were there...your ears would want to commit suicide so they could get away from the sound. [You aren't in a soul room that echoes.]  
  
{Fine...I'll get it...} Bakura grumbled, leaving his comfortable spot and fumbling down the stairs to the phone, picking it up agitated. "Hello? Yes, this is Bakura. Oh, you work with my father?!" Bakura's voice starts to sound excited. "How is he doing? W-what do you mean...? What did it to him?! You're not sure....o-ok....yeah....thanks....I-I understand...bye..." His voice drops to a whisper as he takes a few tries to get the phone on it's hook. He backed up across the kitchen into a wall and turned around to sink onto his knees, banging his head with a 'THUNK' on the wall and leaving it to rest there.   
  
His ring glowed soon after and Akei emerged besides his hikari, staring down at him he was forced to quirk a brow. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"  
  
"........"  
  
"Bakura?"  
  
"........"  
  
"Hello, anyone home?" Akei reached down and pulled Bakura to his feet so he could stare at him, waving a hand infront of his face. If Akei hadn't been holding Bakura up with his other hand, the boy would have fallen again.  
  
"........"  
  
"BAKURA WAKE UP DAMMIT!"  
  
"........"  
  
[Will you answer me?!] No good.  
  
"........"  
  
Silence. Akei was about to give up when his hikari finally spoke. The yami had to listen hard though, Bakura's voice rasped out more quiet then his normal whisper...he was forcing all his energy to speak. "He's....he's dead....."  
  
"Who..?"  
  
"M-my father.....he died on that big dig they were supposed to do for a month....they called it off.....something bad happened......they said that it was so drastic that the city of Cairo was evacuated.......b-but....th-they don't know what it fully is....." Bakura coughed and closed his eyes to fight the tears. Already it had been half the month of July ((I just guessed o.O)), his father was supposed to return at the end of the month...but he was killed like many of the people he worked with....but no one knew by what.  
  
Akei blinked at the boy beginning to cry and moved away, watching Bakura fall to his knees without any support.  
  
"You said this happened at that dig he was on...?"  
  
"Y-yeah..."  
  
"In Egypt..?"  
  
Bakura nodded.  
  
"Stay there. I'm calling Yami....maybe the Pharaoh knows something." Akei rolled his eyes and walked over to the phone, staring at it for a few minutes. He hated calling Yami. He mostly hated Yami. Pharaoh or not, he was a Akei's greatest enemy, even though lately he's helped him and Bakura. But now....he had to call him again, which has only ever happened three times. Something was wrong in Egypt though, something ancient was the problem, and Yami...would most likely know what.   
  
Finally Akei too the phone in his palm and dialed the game shop's number, listening to it ring until Yugi picked up. "Hello, Turtle Game Shop, can I help you?" Akei suddenly remembered Bakura saying something a few days ago that Yugi had dropped the Caller ID box and it broke, and that's why Yugi had no idea who this was. Great.  
  
"Hello."  
  
"Eh...hey...Akei...er....what do you need...?"  
  
"Your yami." He stated plain and simple.  
  
"Er. Right, hold on a second."  
  
******  
Yugi covered the receiver end of his phone with his hand for the moment.  
  
/Yami...Akei is on the phone and wants to talk to you.../  
  
//Do you mind?//  
  
/Not at all./ Yugi felt a force echo out from his puzzle as an ancient aura formed around his body, a new form took over the body. Taller, bolder, and a great ancient one. Yami.   
  
The ex-pharaoh uncovered his hand from the phone and spoke into it, voice full of question. "What do you want?"  
  
"Information."  
  
"You and your short sentences...." Yami muttered then spoke up again. "On what?"  
  
"You mean you haven't heard that your hometown has been evacuated due to something 'unknown'?"  
  
Yami froze at what Bakura's dark half had just said. The capital of Egypt was Thebes in ancient times, though now, it was Cairo. Either way, it was once Yami's and Akei's homeland, and now that it was evacuated...Yami finally added concern in his voice. "What...do you mean.....?"  
  
"One of the people who worked with Bakura's father called a few minutes ago, reporting that his father was dead by something they are unsure about. He wasn't the only one to die, over half of the people that were working at the dig, are now dead. No one knows why though, they evacuated Cairo though because it seemed quite terrible. It _had_ to be some kind of ancient magic so I figured _you_ would know something."  
  
Yami stared into space for a brief point in time, but it was enough to worry Yugi.  
  
/Uh...Yami? You ok...? Yami?/ Of course Yami's aibou heard what Akei said, but never figured it would wound his dark side, THIS much.  
  
//Fine aibou.....fine....//  
  
"Hello? Is anyone still there?"  
  
/Then if you're fine, might I suggest you actually _use_ the phone...?/ Yugi could feel Yami turn a shade of red for a brief moment.   
  
"Yeah....sorry....But, I don't know anything that could do that much damage. Even as Pharaoh, the best traps I could set up with what we had were some things to put YOU unconscious."  
  
"Well, Pharaoh, they never did work too well now, did they?" Akei couldn't help but mock. What Yami had to remember, Akei was the smart one...Dansei was the idiot. That's why he is dead now.   
  
"No. They didn't. By the way....where's Bakura?"  
  
"On the floor crying for his father's death. What....you expect him to be happy?"  
  
//Would be really nice if he would stop mocking me at a time like this. I hope Bakura will be ok though, I just wished I knew what was going on, aibou.//  
  
"No. What do _you_ plan to do?"  
  
"ME?! Why the hell are you asking me?! Damned if I know, this is technically your worries, not mine!"  
  
"Then why did you bother calling."  
  
"............."  
  
"Sure you're not worried."  
  
"I'm not! I...just want to find out what killed Bakura's father."  
  
"Sure."  
  
"I'M SERIOUS!"  
  
"Uh-huh. Whatever, goodbye. I'm going to watch the news." Yami clicked the phone down, leaving Akei ready to go over there and kill the yami.  
  
The puzzle took on a faint aura and Yugi popped out besides Yami. "That wasn't very nice." He muttered. Yami looked at his aibou, worried and yet he was smirking. Today was not a good day, he would be determined to know what happened in Egypt, whether it was himself, or even that damned Akei.  
  
******  
Akei hung up the phone and looked over at Bakura who remained stationed on the floor. "Eh...Bakura...?"  
  
".....Go away....."  
  
Akei grunted and continued talking anyway, folding his arms as he walked and leaned on the wall besides where Bakura was leaning his head against it. "Yami is freaked. He has no idea what happened. Most likely he'll try and find out, that's how the Pharaoh works." He stared across the kitchen the whole time he talked, just now looking down at his hikari, a little worried. "Hey kid, you ok?"  
  
"No."  
  
"......" 'Let's see....the last time he was THIS depressed was....a long, long time ago. And I beat him pretty bad for sulking....Eh great. That doesn't help me much.' "Come on, cheer up, we'll figure out what happened and-" Bakura then stood up, face to face with his yami, sending a glare of reddened eyes (from crying) at him.   
  
"DON'T even start! It's been only a few weeks since Dansei came to ring your neck and the one thing you still stink at is trying to comfort others! Really, you are the last person I would turn to for comfort." With that, Bakura turned away quickly and escaped to his room.  
  
'Mental note. Never try to talk to Bakura when he's depressed.'   
  
Akei sighed, no matter how hard he attempted, anytime Bakura was in a bad mood over something, Akei always made it worse. He sighed, whatever happened in Cairo was really putting a tweak in his mind. Again, he walked to the phone and called the game shop again. But at least this time, Yami picked the phone up. And it was obvious he and Yugi were separated because he could hear Yugi calling an 'If you need me, tell me!'  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"So what are you going to do, Pharaoh?" He mocked.  
  
"What do you mean? And why do you keep calling _me_?"  
  
"Don't tell me you forgot what I told you?"  
  
"No. I saw something begin on the news about it, then the TV went black even though it was still on."  
  
"So what are you going to do?"  
  
Yami's voice silenced itself for a moment. "I..." Akei waited for the responds, it seemed Yami was making sure Yugi wasn't anywhere in voice range. "...I'm planning to go there..."  
  
"HA! I knew it! Sound like you haven't said this to your hikari now, have you _Pharaoh_?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Hmph. And you plan on getting there, how?"  
  
"Um...plane."  
  
"Money?"  
  
"WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THE TWENTY QUESTIONS!?"  
  
Akei held the phone away from his ear with the sudden raise of Yami's voice. Though, Yugi could still be heard in the background. "Yami are you ok?"  
  
"Fine aibou!" Yami paused and went back to speaking in the phone. "I'm still trying to figure that out."  
  
"How about Kaiba?"  
  
"Why do you care?" Yami hissed, avoiding the subject of 'Kaiba'.  
  
"I need to find out what killed Bakura's father, like I said earlier."  
  
"You're not even slightly worried for your hometown...?" Yami began to inch like earlier with his voice, causing Akei to snap his voice through the phone.  
  
"NO ALREADY!"  
  
"Sure. I guess that means I have to drag you with me...?"  
  
"Yes and I can't wait to see you shrivel in the sand because of it." Akei heard Yami growl a 'fine' before the phone was clicked down. With that settled, Akei headed towards Bakura's room to see the door closed. Without even bothering to knock, Akei pushed open the door and stepped into the room, looking to find Bakura.   
  
The yami's other half was stretched limply on his bed, laying on his stomach and chin rested on his pillow so he was staring at the wall. The smaller boy of course had no idea his yami had entered the room, so when the dark half decided to speak up, Bakura nearly jumped out of his skin. Bakura snapped his head around and sat up on the bed, pulling knees into his chest.  
  
"I'm going to Egypt with the Pharaoh once we find a way to get money for tickets to a plane. He didn't seem enthusiastic when I mentioned Kaiba."  
  
"So....you're going to leave......?"   
  
"..Yes."  
  
Bakura rubbed his hands over his eyes then looked back at his yami. "I'm coming too. I wanna know what happened to my father."  
  
"It's too dangerous..."  
  
"....And...?"  
  
"And you can't go."  
  
"Yes. I can."  
  
"I promise I will find out what happened to your father Bakura, but it sounds like this is turning to be very deadly and-"  
  
"I'm not letting you get killed."  
  
"Bakura I'm not-"  
  
"No. I'm coming." Bakura said sternly, as he stood and walked over to his yami. "And that's that."  
  
******  
"What?! You can't go to Egypt! ESPECIALLY with Akei there, you two will kill each other before you get there!" Yugi shouted in his bedroom, directed to the former pharaoh standing before him. Yes, Yami had just broken the news to Yugi that he was to be leaving when they found a way to get there. Yugi didn't take it so well.  
  
"Aibou, I have to do this."  
  
"And leave me alone?!"  
  
"Eh....well...-"  
  
"YAMI! I've faced Pegasus with you, Malik ((A/N: I sorta know what happened with Malik, but the dubbed world isn't even done with Pegasus.)), and whatever else I may be forgetting! Your hometown is in danger, I am going to help protect it with you, like you've always helped me."  
  
Yami sighed in defeat. "Fine aibou, you can come."  
  
******  
"Alright, alright Bakura! You can come! Just stop staring at me like that!" Akei groaned and Bakura smiled at winning that argument.   
  
******  
Of course. The problem was traveling overseas. And enough money for two tickets (if the yamis stay in their soul rooms) is quite expensive. They soon figured that out, leaving them only one other place to turn.....  
  
******  
  
  
  
And there you have it! The lame start! Trust me, it WILL become better. I have no idea how Bakura felt about his father, but in this let's say he really loved him. I can't say much for now, except, review ^^ And no flames, onegai, they break a person's spirit. So until next chapter, sayonara! 


	2. Snacks, Songs, and Sanity

Sorry if I'm rushing a bit, I wanna get them to their destination quickly......  
Kaiba ish kinda OOC, not too much, but him and Yami in this fic hate each other and tend to duke it out every so often....  
Here ya go, chapter two. ^^  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or the tune thingy of Gilligan's Island (don't ask).  
  
******  
The door to Bakura's house was opened by Yami. Him and Yugi came over to see the other two and figure out that the worse had to be done. And there was no avoiding it. Plane tickets to Egypt were a.) too expensive and b.) weren't on sale because of whatever happened. So in a reluctant mood, Yami was the one stuck opening the door to a figure.  
  
"I'm glad you called," the person said in a mocking tone.  
  
"Shut up." Yami turned and walked into the living room to the others, the figure following behind him with a steel briefcase. Yugi, who was standing against a wall, turned his head from talking with Bakura to his dark half, then to the other person to state a greeting.  
  
"Hey Kaiba."  
  
Yami returned to his normal chair while Kaiba stood to drop his briefcase on the table, looking around at the room. "So, I hear you four need some transportation."  
  
"That's why I called," Akei hissed back, sitting next to his aibou on the couch.  
  
"Whoa, whoa, chill out. I can give that easily....now onto the other supplies you asked." He bent over the table and opened the briefcase, revealing his collection of cards on the bottom half and the top with two dueling discs hooked into it. "See?"  
  
"We need four."  
  
"You get two."  
  
"We asked for four."  
  
Kaiba shot the Pharaoh a look. "You. Get. Two."  
  
Yami grumbled. "We have to leave ASAP, as in, now. Cairo isn't going to save itself you know."  
  
"Helicopter is in the backyard."  
  
"When did you do that??" Bakura stood and ran over into the kitchen to look out a window to the back yard. "Holy-"  
  
"Great isn't it?"  
  
Yami stood and walked over to Kaiba after Yugi ran outside, followed by Bakura. "If you pull anything funny Seto Kaiba, I'll personally make sure you die quickly."  
  
"Yes, yes, Yami." Kaiba held his hands up in defeat and followed the others to the helicopter.  
  
"Think we need food or anything...?"  
  
"Eh."  
  
"I'll be out in a sec, tell him to hold the take off and I'll get a bag of food." Akei said, going upstairs and coming back down with two leather sacks and going into the kitchen.  
  
"No, I'll help too. They can't go without us anyway."   
  
"True."   
  
******  
It only took the yamis a few minutes to take just about every bit of food they had in the kitchen. Including various fruits, veggies, Cheerios, Lucky Charms, a bag of sugar, chocolate bars, more fruit, more veggies, and a loaf of bread. All nicely fitted in the two large leather sacks that were found (about as big as pillow cases).  
  
"Are we ready to go?" Kaiba asked, all prepared in his piloting seat as he looked back at the wary others. Yugi nodded, as did Bakura. They were the only other two out in the open. Both yamis took the opportunity to escape to their soul rooms, and nothing either of the lights could say would change that.   
  
{Come on, it's just a helicopter...}  
  
[No, no, and NO!]  
  
{....Fine....}  
  
/Come on Yami, it isn't so bad.../  
  
//Aibou, I am NOT coming out of my soul room.//  
  
/Ok..../  
  
"So Kaiba, how long is it going to take to get there?" Yugi asked, taking a seat besides the pilot's chair.   
  
"About an hour, at my speed. You all are on your own though when we land, I'm dropping you off and then leaving."  
  
"You can't leave!"   
  
"Oh yes Motou, I can."  
  
"B-but how are we going to get back?!"  
  
Kaiba reached into his pocket and pulled out a small cell phone before tossing it over to Yugi. "Call. But I am not staying there."  
  
"....Alright...."  
  
/Kaiba is going to ditch us after he drops us off. We'll have to call when we need to get back, he gave me a cell phone./  
  
//I know aibou, I heard.//  
  
/Oh...right.../  
  
{You really should come out...the view is so cool!}  
  
[I told you...-]  
  
{Sorry!}  
  
******  
"Does that look like it down below?" Kaiba turned to Yugi who shrugged as he stared out the window at sand. His puzzle illuminated and out emerged the former pharaoh besides his aibou. Yami observed their surroundings and pointed North West from where they were.  
  
"That way is Cairo."  
  
"How do you know?" Snapped Kaiba, only to receive a smack upside his head.  
  
"I should know."  
  
Kaiba grumbled and turned the helicopter towards where Yami was pointing.   
  
******  
"KAIBA HOW COULD YOU GET US LOST?!" Yami's voice rung through the helicopter.   
  
"....."  
  
"I told you to go THAT way! And yet I turn my head for one moment, and you turn this damn piece of scrap a different direction!!"  
  
/Um Yami....might I suggest calming down?/  
  
"So much for being there in an hour..." Akei muttered from a seat in the back. He had been forced out of his soul room by Bakura, the yami was not pleased one bit at the time, but now he smirked at the entertainment growing from the front. "Let's see...it's already been, three?"  
  
((A/N: Ok, I know it probably takes a reallyyyyy long time to fly to Cairo from Domino City, but let's just make it nice for the fic and say it doesn't take that long?))  
  
"Three and a half." Bakura sighed, staring out a window at the sand dunes. "Why does there half to be so much sand....?"  
  
"That's like saying in winter why there has to be so much snow," Yugi chipped in the conversation, giving up on calming down his darker half.   
  
"Um...Well...." Kaiba muttered, ignoring Yami's hard glare, attitude, and his foreign curses, as well as trying to find the Egyptian city at the same time. "...The insults aren't going to get you any closer. I _could_ break our deal you know and fly back and take the duel discs with me. Then what would you do?" Kaiba's voice grew into a mock, which urged Yami to growl. "Thought so."  
  
******  
"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale..." Yugi began singing as he stared at the helicopter's ceiling. Bakura had fallen half asleep, his yami was still sitting silently and finally Kaiba and Yami had mellowed down. "....A tale of a lost plane. That started off in Domino City and now is stuck with strain." He paused to think a moment and continued. "The pilot got us lost and the mate could sure yell. Five passengers took flight that day for a three hour tour. A three hour tour." Again Yugi hesitated a second, realizing no one was listening to his singing, but continued anyway. It passed the time and at least he hadn't gotten 'thwapped' yet.   
  
((A/N: Ok, I know they'll on a helicopter, but Yugi is singing plane because 'helicopter' is not fun to rhyme.))  
  
"The arguments started getting rough, the tiny plane was Heck. If not for having no parachutes, the crew would have jumped deck. The crew would have jumped deck." Yugi blinked and stopped as the helicopter landed on a dune of sand.  
  
"SEE! I got us there!"   
  
Yami grumbled. "We have arrived outside of Cairo!"  
  
Again Yugi started to sing, he was going to finish his song and no one would stop him. "The plane set ground outside of the city with Yami, the duelist too, Akei, and his hikari! The CEO, the food and ants here near Cai-"  
  
"AIBOU!"  
  
"-ro. Sorry."  
  
******  
Akei was the first one up and off the helicopter, followed by his light and then Yugi. The three wandered away from their large 'transporter' only slightly as they waited for Yami to come off the helicopter as well.  
  
The former pharaoh was about to exit the helicopter as well when his arm was grabbed. He turned to growl at Kaiba, who had a wide smirk stretched over his face. "Remember our deal? You get a ride and the dueling discs and you-"  
  
"I know already!" Yami hissed, snatching the duel disc that was held out to him(Akei had taken the other). With a pull of his arm, he broke away from Kaiba and walked after the others. The CEO's smirk never faded, even when the helicopter was launched into the air and he headed back towards Domino City.  
  
As Yami walked towards the others, attaching the duel disc (the ones from Face Off) to his arm, Yugi looked over at him warily, knowing why his dark side's mood changed.  
  
/I can't believe you agreed to letting Kaiba beat you in a duel when we get back!/ Yugi cried, still surprised by the whole thing. /You do know, that this will tarnish your reputation.../  
  
//I know aibou, I know...but it was the only way he would do what we needed. I couldn't stand by to have my home be destroyed!//  
  
/But...-/  
  
//Aibou. I know what this will do to me, purposely losing against Kaiba. How I HATE to do it, but I have to. I still feel so obligated to protect this city...//  
  
/Alright...too late to turn back now..../ Yugi murmured, scanning his eyes towards to silent city. He looked over to Bakura, who had been carrying both sacks of food and walked over to him, taking one from his hands. Bakura nodded a grateful 'thanks' and Yugi smiled. The next step...entering the city.   
  
As the group headed towards Cairo, Yami and Akei holding possession of the duel discs, a faint breeze pulled its way around them, taking some of the sand with it until it settled again. And Bakura became slightly paranoid, thinking he had heard something growl, but shook his head to dismiss it, well...until he heard it again.  
  
{What was that...?}  
  
[What was what?]  
  
{You didn't hear that growl...?}  
  
[Um...no, are you ok...?]  
  
{Y-yeah...it was nothing....my stomach...yeah! It was nothing.....} 'I hope....'  
  
******  
  
  
  
Was it really Bakura's stomach? Or just plain nothing? Is Yami really going to let Kaiba beat him in a duel when they get out of this?!?! Well...that you'll find out in the end....and as for the first two questions, find out next chapter! Dun, dun, dunnnnn!  
  
--Can anyone give me a list of what cards Bakura/Akei's deck has in it? All I know is the Change of Heart, please people?  
  
--As always, review! And my yami, Reia will use her High Priestess magic to destroy any flames! Heh...  
  
Yami Reia: ::Meditates.:: Ummmmmmmmmmmmm.......!  
  
Me: o.O;;;; 


	3. He's Not Dead, He's Just Resting!

Thank you everyone for info on cards! And PrincessSapphire....the site didn't work o.O;;;   
But it's the thought that counts!  
  
Doesn't this chapter have a lovely name? If anyone knows Monty Python and an episode called "Dead Parrot" that's where the line is from (I think)...SO DON'T SUE! Sorry. Couldn't resist using that line...it just popped into my head....I don't like watching Monty Python, I just like that one episode....I'll stick up another Disclaimer when I actually own anything other then the name Akei...  
  
ONE MORE THING! I'm soooo LUCKY! The episode of Evil Spirit of The Ring was on yesterday, so I took at least SOME notes on what some of the cards were...though...the two only have like two attack monsters....  
  
******  
[Are you SURE you're ok?] Akei pestered as the group trudged through the sand towards the city of silence.  
  
{YES OK?! I. Am. Fine. Stop asking me!}  
  
'Why do I even bother? It always gets worse when I bother....' Akei rolled his eyes slightly and grumbled, staring into the sand. "Doesn't seem to have changed a bit."  
  
"What do you mean?" Yugi tuned his head to him.  
  
"Still hot. Still dreary. Still has sand." He paused. "At least there is one good thing."  
  
"What?" And STILL Yugi was curious.  
  
"The city is drained of its idiots."  
  
Yami's eyes went wide and he stiffened, arriving into a halt before turning around to glare at Akei like the yami was about to die. "Damn you." He spat. "DAMN YOU!"  
  
/Yami, calm down!/  
  
Yugi's dark half ignored the boy and stepped forward to grab Akei and lift him off the ground.   
  
"Yami don't!" Bakura protested, looking to his yami who was unwilling to fight back....this surprised the hikari. 'He has changed a lot...'   
  
"Let GO Pharaoh!!" Akei squirmed, but Yami refused to let go and began to choke Akei.  
  
"Don't you EVER insult the people of Thebes or Cairo, WHATEVER!!!"  
  
  
/Yami STOP please, you're going to kill him!!/  
  
//That's the point!//  
  
/Yami I know he insulted Egypt, he insults EVERYTHING though, it's his nature! You can't kill him for that, you have to.......you have to stop..../ Yugi lowered his head in sadness as Yami continued choking the other dark side.   
  
Bakura shook his head slowly and let his gaze fall to the ring. 'It worked last time when I wanted to help him...maybe the ring will come through for me again?' Bakura closed his eyes and focused on his dark side and the ring.   
  
The Millennium item began to glow, causing all sets of eyes to stare over at him. When Yami refocused back to the one he was attempting to kill....he blinked when Akei had vanished. "What the..?!"  
  
"Yami. I will not let you try to kill him. You KNOW his ways and it's nothing to try to kill him over." Bakura said as he opened his eyes, the ring dropping its glow.  
  
"W-where is he?" Yami whispered, his temper slowly reaching normal.  
  
"His soul room."  
  
Yami and Yugi simply blinked.  
  
[How......how did you...? I thought you couldn't work....the ring.....] Akei asked with a soft voice, half from astonishment and half from trying to get air into his lungs.   
  
{I thought that BEFORE I used it to take us to the Shadow Realm. I finally figured out that the ring responded to me wanting to defend you, or at least do something I believed in. So I tried it again...believed in having the ring pull you to your soul room...and it worked!}  
  
[............ ............. ..........Thanks.]  
  
Bakura smiled.  
  
Yami finally cooled down. "Are you two going to keep mentally going at it or can we actually keep..._moving_?"   
  
"Sorry.."  
  
Yami looked up and just realized Yugi was a distance ahead of them, already walking towards the city. "Aibou wait up! Hey Bakura, tell Akei I'm sorry, I just kind of......lost it."  
  
"No problem! Now let's go!" Bakura ran after Yugi, slightly slower though for the fact since his yami was in his soul room, Bakura had the duel disc.  
  
{Yami apolo-}  
  
[I heard.]  
  
{Aren't you coming out?}  
  
[Not until we reach the city.]  
  
{Why are you so lazy?}  
  
[.....]  
  
******  
The group of three (Akei still in his soul room), trudged into the empty city. It really was evacuated, not a soul in sight. In a way....that was a good thing.   
  
{Yami will you come out now...?}  
  
[.....]  
  
{Onegai...?}  
  
Bakura could hear Akei grumble, but the former tomb robber emerged besides him anyway, arms folded in annoyance. Bakura sighed at the sight of his yami, scanning his eyes around and feeling a chill shiver its way down his spine. He swore he heard growl again, but ignored it to the fact no one else seemed to hear anything. "Now what do we do?"  
  
"It seems that the palace is still standing, we should go there and at least set the food there too and then go figure what to do after." Yami said aloud, his sharp ruby eyes locked on the palace.  
  
((A/N: I have no idea what Cairo is like, so bare with me...I figure ya got a large path/sand road before the group that leads to the large palace and then on the sides of the road are all of the houses and stores and such....Back to the story!))  
  
Akei stared down at the duel disc attached to him and once again grumbled, brushing past his hikari and heading towards the palace without another word. He hated that place. He always had and always will. Can he be blamed though? He was sealed in the ring there, the place that thrown him into eternal darkness until Bakura unlocked the power....  
  
{Hey....you ok?} Bakura looked over at his sulking yami with a worried expression. They still had a distance to the castle, going slow to check their surroundings. Yugi and Yami remained silent, Bakura figured they were talking with the mental link by the way Yugi seemed to space out every so often. And him and his yami? Well, Bakura was just confused.  
  
[No.]  
  
Bakura blinked. {What's wrong...?}  
  
[Nothing.]  
  
{But you just said you weren't-}  
  
[Leave me alone.]  
  
{I will if you tell me what's wrong.}  
  
Akei kept his gaze at the ground and away from everyone, as Bakura checked where it was aimed moments before. The palace. {You're afraid, aren't you?}   
  
No responds.  
  
{Don't ignore me!}  
  
Yugi peered back at the two, taking in Akei's sudden reluctance and Bakura's annoyed look. 'I'm just staying out of this...' Akei's silence through the link went on for a few more minutes and Bakura continued trying to get him to talk, but nothing was working. The light finally got slightly angered and stepped infront of his dark half, grabbing his shoulders to force Akei to look at him.  
  
"Will you answer me already?!"  
  
Akei blinked and broke Bakura's hold, moving past him and besides Yami. Though, all he wanted to do was stay where he was and let the others go to the palace. That wasn't going to happen though. Bakura grinned and followed behind his yami who seemingly could answer Yami but not him.  
  
"What's your problem?"  
  
"What do you think?!"  
  
Almost as an automatic responds, Yami looked from Akei to the palace and mumbled. "Oh."  
  
/Oh? What's "oh"?/  
  
//He doesn't want to go back.//  
  
/...Why?/  
  
//Aibou. That's where he was sealed in the ring.//  
  
/Oh I get it./  
  
"Ok, since everyone seems to know what's going on here except me, could SOMEONE explain what's wrong with my yami?"   
  
Yami looked over to him. "Why don't you ask him yourself...?"  
  
"I _did_."  
  
The former pharaoh sighed and just shook his head mumbling. "Akei just tell him..."  
  
[How would you like going back someplace where you were sealed into darkness?] Akei finally gave into answering and waited for Bakura's responds. Surely the boy couldn't be THAT dim to not figure out what he meant.   
  
{Oh.....I didn't....oh..} ((A/N: Word of the day: OH! Lol.))  
  
******  
The group pushed through the solid doors and entered, food and all. Yugi's eyes widened in amazement, scanning the open area. They were in a circular room, having four halls lead from it. Yami took the lead down one of the four, searching for a certain room. He stopped by a double door and pushed his body against it to hear it creak open. The room was another circular shape, equipped with two beds, a rug, and a good sized square window with view of the city. "We can stay in this room, it's amazing how nothing has seemed to change..."  
  
Bakura and Yugi dropped the bags of food and the silver-haired walked to look out the window. "The dig was near here....I just don't understand how the city could be effected...."  
  
He did a double take on the city, thinking he had heard something, and saw something as well. The boy shook his head and looked around the room to see Yugi and Yami...not in it. "Where'd the other two go?"  
  
"Yami wanted to look around and Yugi followed."  
  
"Oh....well I think I need some....rest....Wake me later, onegai." Bakura mumbled and crawled into one of the two beds. Akei watched as his light fell quickly asleep. 'Sure leave me to make sure he wakes up....'  
  
******  
Yami and Yugi returned awhile later and looked right at Bakura. Yugi blinked a few times and then looked over to Akei. "What's wrong with him, is he ok..?!"  
  
"Quiet. It's not like he's dead, he's just resting!" Akei spat, mainly wanting the two to stay silent....  
  
******  
  
  
  
  
Ok. That was a lame chapter....I promise, NEXT chapter will be some action, promise promise promise!   
  
The Egyptian palace is probably as a museum, don't you think? Well. In this, it isn't, and let's just say it's almost perfectly intact, ok? For the sake of the fic! ¬___¬;;;   
  
I think I've lost it. 


	4. Illusions

Ok, next chapter...I have no idea what to type but my fingers!! They keep moving!!! AHHHH!!!!  
  
******  
Bakura woke up from the bed and stood, walking over to the window again. His yami was leaning besides the door and was the only other in the room. Bakura only looked at him slightly and went back to window staring.   
  
Akei watched him, carefully...getting slightly worried as the boy began shaking. "Um, Bakura?" The other boy didn't answer, he instead started to clutch his hands over his ears and sank to his knees away from the wall. "Bakura?! Hell, what's wrong?!" 'Of all times Yugi and Yami decide to go through the town...' The group figured as long as they remained in pairs, they would be fine, so the other two went out of the palace to look around. Akei's thoughts snapped back into place when Bakura started talking....none of which he could understand though.   
  
"Faiteir nasai, faiteir nasai, faiteir nasai.........no, no, no! Make it stop....m-make it....NO....." Bakura clenched his eyes shut, continuously repeating the words 'faiteir nasai' as tears streamed from his eyes.  
  
((A/N: I think nasai means I'm in Jap, but I'm not sure....and faiteir, as far as I know means nothing in any language, it will make sense at some point...))  
  
"Bakura, what the hell are you rambling about?!"  
  
The boy still didn't answer, simply chanted. And louder. "Faiteir nasai, faiteir nasai, faiteir nasai, faiteir nasai...."  
  
[Bakura, what are you TALKING about?]  
  
{H-h-help!}  
  
"Faiteir nasai..."  
  
[What, how, you aren't _helping_ me understand!]  
  
{The voices....the sounds....they-they just keep coming...I-I don't know...they keep forcing those words from my mouth....I-I....yami!} He cried in his mind. Akei sighed an entered his soul room, immediately taking over Bakura's body. Bakura went to rocking back and forth in his soul room.   
  
Akei started standing off the ground, only to topple over to one knee. A voice, almost a howl of someone, something was ramming its voice against his skull, hearing what Bakura heard loudly in his soul room. He held his mouth shut, trying to not allow the chant to escape his mouth. He couldn't take it though....and retreated the body into his own form, now panting half fallen over against a wall.   
  
And then. It all just stopped. Bakura removed his hands off his head and blinked, still some tears trickling to the ground. "I.....I don't hear them....anymore....."  
  
Akei was still panting from that experience of taking over Bakura's body. "....You.....you ok...?"  
  
"I think....how about you....?"  
  
"No...idea....I'll get back to you....on that...."  
  
Bakura stood off the ground and sat on one of the beds, his yami went and nearly collapsed on the other one (purposely). Yami came bursting in through the door with Yugi straggling in after him. Considering his yami was in no mood of talking, Bakura stated the question on both of their minds. "What happened to you two?"  
  
"There's something out there!" Yugi squeaked.   
  
"Something came out of one of the alleys, but our visions blurred and we couldn't see what it was."  
  
"Couldn't see anything except a very faint blur of the palace, so we ran towards it."  
  
"Whatever it was, was darkly chanting the words 'faiteir nasai' in a growling sense of voice." Yami finished and looked back and forth between a tired Bakura and a pained Akei. "What happened to _you_ both?"  
  
Akei finally sat up a bit and sighed, leaning his head on one of his palms. "Funny how you mention those two words. Something was making Bakura chant them over and over again. I finally took control and felt some voice hitting painfully against my skull...and retreated back to my own body...it was painful and trying to force those words from my mouth, but then it all stopped and we both collapsed on the beds."  
  
"Fun," Yugi murmured.  
  
Bakura sighed and finally said something. "Has anyone heard any....growling kind of noises since we've arrived.....?"  
  
"Um no..." Yugi said in a confused sense. Akei and Yami just shook their heads.  
  
"You sure...?"  
  
"Bakura, you feeling ok?"  
  
"No."  
  
His yami blinked.   
  
"No really, I'm dandy. The fact that I seem to be the only one hearing things growling is perfectly ok with me." Bakura finished, nailing a perfectly good sarcastic tone of voice. The three in the room just blinked, Yami covered for his aibou on the questioning.   
  
"You've been hearing things and haven't told us...?"  
  
"I thought I finally went insane."  
  
[I thought you finally said it was your stomach...?]  
  
{I lied.}  
  
[W-why...?]  
  
{Because I think I've gone insane.}  
  
Akei hung his head. 'He didn't trust to tell me the truth....that's what he really thinks....' The yami sighed, causing his light to look at him wearily, almost reading his thoughts but decided not to say anything, not yet at least.   
  
Yugi sat down besides Bakura on the bed and looked up at his darkness. "Hey Yami, why did we bring dueling discs...?"  
  
"Protection."  
  
".....How are they supposed to help...?"  
  
"As I said...protection of whatever is out there."  
  
"But Yami....whatever is out there is probably flesh and blood...."  
  
"..So?"  
  
"How can a hologram kill flesh and blood?"  
  
Yami's face turned white and his blinked.   
  
((A/N: I basically went through this conversation with myself awhile ago, and was like 'oh shit' I'll find a way for them to help...I hope...))  
  
Yugi waved a hand infront of his dark side's face, snapping Yami out of La-La Land. Yugi found it kind of funny when his yami's face was drained, but it was also unhealthy and he snapped him out of it. "In a way, I don't want to go back out there, but why don't we all go out?"  
  
Akei stood up and folded his arms. "Fine." Bakura just nodded and stood as well, following behind the three as they left the room and the palace to the outside world. Both dark halves still had the two duel discs equipped on their arms....just in case.   
  
They treaded down the main 'road' of the city, Bakura hanging behind them warily. He spoke out in no more then a whisper, walking up besides Akei and grabbing his arm for support, like a younger brother going to his older one to hide from a storm or something. Akei blinked over at his hikari, feeling him start to shake. "Bakura...?"  
  
"Faiteir nasai...." He shook harder.  
  
"Not again..."  
  
"I hear the growling again...."  
  
Yami and Yugi looked at each other, then over at the two. "Stay alert aibou."  
  
"Why...?"  
  
"Because I hear it too."  
  
Yugi blinked and then backed up at a form now in their sights. "Y-Yami....w-what is that.....?!"  
  
Bakura and Akei turned their heads to it.  
  
No one's vision blurred this time....but they felt unable to move at the sight.  
  
What lay before them, seemed mixed features of a hell hound, wolf, and saber tooth tiger. The teeth of the extinct feline, dripping with fresh saliva. Claws dug into the ground, the creature being larger then an average adult wolf...much larger, fur a black darker then night and eyes a so red you could tell what it was seeking. Blood.  
  
Its ears (longer then an average wolf as well) pulled sharply behind its head, and it backed up slowly. But it only did to get a running start and lunge into the air.....  
  
.......towards Bakura.  
  
******  
  
  
How was that? Was it ok? I got off a writer's block on it, and I just LOVE how I ended this chapter....bahahahahaha...I know the 'faiteir nasai' still makes no sense. Doesn't fully to me either! (Just kidding, it will...in a few chapters...lol...). Why the chapter was called Illusions, don' ask me......lol.....   
  
And sorry if you can't picture my lovable evil creation, I had a hard time thinking about it myself. I first tried drawing it....HAHA that's funny. I suck at drawing and it came out very bad. Then last night I tried dreaming it....here's the dream though how I type it, isn't as scary as it was...:  
  
  
There's this girl, standing in a darkened hallway and at the end of it, there seems to be a very large dark brown toad, she figures 'Ok, just a toad but why is it here?' The toad figure turns to face her (they are a great distance apart, very long hallway) and it's form changes to some werewolf type thing so its on two legs with blood shot eyes and such. The girl's eyes go wide and she sees the form hold up a claw, forming a large lightning/static kind of sphere of blue black and purple, and then releases it towards the girl. Immediately, she runs into a door and fiddles to open it, running inside as she feels her hair stand up as the sphere passes her. She closes the door and hears the creature following her and it started ramming into the door. She finally locked it, but the door was still being broken down, and it was a metal door. The door snapped unlocked and the creature bursted through, leaving her to clutch at the wall behind her and the creature loomed over her. She screamed soooooo loud as the creature was forming another sphere...  
  
I snapped awake and found myself screaming in my head and decided NOT to think so hard about what the creature was to look like. It really freaked me out, the dream seemed so real.... ::Shivers.:: I'm over it now, I'll get the next chapter out soon...abiz.... 


	5. Beasts

What's gonna happen to Bakura? HE'S GONNA DIE!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! No comment, just read...and you'll see!  
  
******  
"BAKURA!" Akei yelled out, just as he saw the beast take into the air. It was obvious its target was Bakura, but why...? Hardly even thinking, Akei grabbed Bakura out of the way of this 'hound' and watched the creature land gracefully, turning to prepare another go. What freaked everyone out more though, was what it growled at them.  
  
"Faiteir nasai." It was more of a hiss...then a growl though.  
  
If Akei hadn't been holding his light up, Bakura would have fallen to his knees. But nevertheless, his eyes were clenched shut and he screamed in pain at the feeling from the two words the creature had announced out. Again, the beast stated the two words and Bakura lost himself, trying to fight against Akei who continued to hold him still. Yami and Yugi just remained stunned, trying to figure what to do through their mental link.  
  
Akei glanced down at his duel disc and pulled out a card from the deck he had inserted there earlier. So it might work, it might not...but he had to try, whatever this thing was saying every few seconds, would strike at Bakura like needles. Very big needles.   
  
"What are you doing?!" Yami finally yelled out, at Akei.  
  
"Trying a theory. Get ready to run."  
  
"What....?!"  
  
"Just be ready!" He hissed back at the former pharaoh, placing a card on the reader and calling it out as he spun the other half of the disc before the beast. Instinctively, the creature sniffed at it. "Electric Lizard!"  
  
"What good is that going to do?!" Yami continued.  
  
"Run. Now. Back to the palace." Yami looked at him with an odd glance. "GO!"  
  
"Um...yeah....Come on aibou...." Yami grabbed Yugi by the arm and pulled him quickly towards the palace. Of course, the beast didn't notice. Its only interest was Bakura. The creature pawed at the purple Electric Lizard, the creature grinning and immediately feeding an electrifying shock on the creature...paralyzing it for the time being. The fiend howled out in annoyance and tried to break the spell but failed greatly. Akei pulled the duel disc back and placed the Electric Lizard's card back in his deck, still holding Bakura he turned and ran towards the palace.  
  
As Bakura and Akei passed by it creature, it spat out with its growl those two words that get the smaller boy every time. "Faiteir nasai." Bakura fell out of Akei's grip to the ground as the words buzzed through his mind, almost burning him from the inside out.  
  
"Bakura!" Akei turned around and pulled Bakura off the ground again and continued running towards the palace.  
  
Yami and Yugi were waiting in the doors as Bakura and Akei were approaching the steps.  
  
Yugi suddenly winced and did a double take before shouting as loud as he could towards the two. "IT'S MOVING AGAIN!!" Yami stared over at the beast and indeed, it was moving and chasing after them.   
  
"Shit, shit, shit! Bakura, do you think you could MOVE instead of me dragging you?!"  
  
Bakura just clutched his head harder.  
  
******  
The two nearly jumped inside the palace and Yugi and Yami slammed the doors shut, the beast slamming against the door. They listened as it growled and turned away, sulking as it left.   
  
Bakura collapsed in tears in the middle of the floor in the entryway. Akei sighed and stared to him.  
  
Yami looked over at the other darkness. "I guess the duel discs can be some help. Thanks."  
  
"Hey. Spared us all some time to get back in here. That thing can't get near us now! And it sounded like it gave up." He paused and looked back at Bakura. "But I can't understand. It seems like it was only after Bakura..."  
  
Yami nodded. "Yeah, I realized that too. It's weird..." He paused a moment to think. "But I honestly don't remember a creature like that..."  
  
"Your memory is still fuzzy, Pharaoh."  
  
Yami simply glared back.  
  
[Are you planning on actually getting off the floor any time soon....?] Akei questioned, folding his arms over his chest and staring at his hikari on the floor.  
  
Bakura had been crying still, even after his yami had tried calming him down. It wasn't that he was hearing voices, but the fact that he was just plain scared. All the thoughts of that THING was what killed his father was trying to kill him, came back to haunt him...he just couldn't handle it. Akei on the other hand, was getting....fed up....his hikari was acting himself once again. The boy that fears everything. If Yami and Yugi weren't here, he'd probably....hit the boy. Instead......  
  
[ARG you baka!!]  
  
Bakura cringed at his yami's words as he lifted his head slightly to see Akei storm off down a right hallway.   
  
/Should we go after him...?/  
  
//No, I don't think so. He should be fine and I think he'd try and kill us if we followed after him...//  
  
/If you're sure..../  
  
//.....But I don't think he is going to be happy with the direction he chose to go.....//  
  
/Why..?/  
  
******  
"Stupid runt. I try helping, and this is what I get, this is what he gets!? I hope you're happy Bakura! You should be. If those two weren't there I would have.....I would have...." He sighed and hung his head. 'I would have lost it...'  
  
Akei continued down the hall he was wandering. "This....looks vaguely....familiar...." He glanced ahead to what seemed the hall opening up and continued until he entered a large dome like room with a throne far infront of him until it touched the wall. There were a few tables set up, seemingly worn. Akei walked into the room, stopping before the old throne and then nearly fell backwards...  
  
***Flashback***  
"It's time you pay for your 'evil' you have done to this city! Let's hope you never become awakened again. Instead of killing you like most people though, you will be sealed away into eternal darkness! ....Any last words, before you never again see the light of day?" The voice mocked from a throne in the room.   
  
A figure was on his knees before it, blood dripping down to the ground from his face due to being struck various times. Silver hair dangled over the pale face, the form not even looking up at the one ready to seal his soul away as he spat out rudely. "Only that you, Pharaoh and these people of this city are worthless bastards."  
  
The Pharaoh grinned and snapped his fingers, a servant carrying over a golden ring object to the Pharaoh.  
  
"If those are your last words..."  
  
***End Flashback***  
Akei fell to his knees. Now he remembered why this area was so memorable. The room where he was sealed into the ring....he was in it. His mind was distorted and if anyone bothered talking to him, mentally or physically...they should expect no responds, as Bakura soon found out.  
  
{Yami? Yami I'm sorry....I.....I acted like a jerk back there, I just was remember my father and how this thing was after me...but at least we're safe in here. Please, come back..}  
  
............  
  
{Yami?}  
  
............  
  
******  
Bakura stood and rubbed his eyes with a sleeve. "He won't listen to me...I hope he's ok..."  
"I bet he's fine, just probably....a stroll down memory lane...." Yami muttered, leaving Bakura to simply nod. Yugi jumped at a new sound though, the ramming of the doors. Again that _fiend_ was trying to ram the door down. Yugi looked at his darkness wearily but the voice of his other comforted him again. "Don't worry, these doors are near impossible to break down, aibou."  
  
******  
Akei winced and came back to reality at a sudden sound. No, it wasn't the sound of the hound ramming the door...but it was....growling. The same kind of growl heard before by everyone. This time, Akei really did fall backwards. Something jumped ontop one of the tables and glared at him. 'A-another one?! No, no, it must be the same, yeah it is.'   
  
The yami pushed off the floor and darted back into the hallway, duel disc and all. As soon as he approached closer to the entry way, he started yelling. "It got inside!! That THING got inside!!!" He stopped infront of Yami, panting to try and get air.   
  
"What are you talking about? Can't you hear? It's outside trying to break down the doors." Yami stated, folding his arms. He was surprised when Akei grabbed both his shoulders and nearly gasped out.  
  
"Then there is TWO!"  
  
"Akei. Don't be silly....there aren't-" Yami immediately froze all words and body as he stared passed Akei into the hall he had come down from.   
  
There. Standing in it, was the second beast, the one that attacked Akei. Akei saw the look on the former pharaoh's face and turned his head towards the doorway (hands still clenched on the shoulders). He pushed Yami away from him and backed up, shaking his head. "Please tell me Pharaoh, that you have a back entrance..."  
  
"That would be really nice.....wouldn't it?"   
  
Yugi looked at his dark sighed almost in shock.  
  
"Aibou, go into your soul room."  
  
"You too, Bakura."  
  
The two lights looked at each other for a moment but nodded and with a glow of both Millennium items...they were gone. "How stupid do you think these things are...."  
  
The creature in the growled for a moment seemed offended, and the second one....broke through the doors at last. Both stalked near the two dark halves, licking the saliva on their teeth. One presumably smirked and Yami blinked over at Akei, mumbling.  
  
"I think it heard you."  
  
Akei's eye went wide and he stared at the open door. Yami seemed to catch the drift and pulled out two cards from his deck on the duel disk and flashed them so Akei could see a moment. The past tomb robber nodded and looked to see the creatures moving around towards their sides, giving the darks the ability to move into the doorway of the exit. "You could very well loose that Kuriboh card you know."  
  
"Hai, I know." Yami whispered, holding up the disk and placing his Multiply card and a Monster card so they both activated. "Kuriboh!" The furry fiend appeared in the doorway and began multiplying quickly. Yami left the whole device in the doorway and pushed Akei out the door as they both took into a run. "That should get curiosity stimulated."   
  
Akei nodded and they ran into an alley way, Yugi separating from his dark's form. The smaller boy fumbled through his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. "I'm calling Kaiba.." No one seemed to object as Yugi dialed the right number. "Hello? Kaiba? Yes, we _need_ to get out of here and FAST..."  
  
******  
Kaiba was in his mansion, and actually started sounding half worried with Yugi's sound of voice. "Why? What's out there??"  
  
"I-I don't know...it's something trying to kill us...I don't know what to call it....it's like a cat and a wolf in one...." The voice called back.  
  
"...Call it a Saber Wolf.....I mean, are you still in the city?"  
  
"Kaiba? Yes, we're still in. But you have to-" The line went dead.  
  
"Yugi? Yugi?! YUGI?!!" Kaiba shouted before hanging up the phone and staring at the ground. He grumbled and then took off in a run. "Damn guilty conscience."  
  
******  
Yugi frantically stared at the phone, he had been yelling through it before, but that came to no good use. "It went DEAD!"  
  
"You have got to be kidding aibou.....That was our only plan of escape."  
  
Akei looked out of the alley back at the palace to the amount of Kuriboh in the front. At least it made a good wall. "We're still ok."  
  
"But what do we do...?!"  
  
The two darks only stared at Yugi.  
  
{Should I stay in my soul room still....?}  
  
[Are you hearing any voices there?]  
  
{Other then yours, no.}  
  
[Then yes. Stay in there.]  
  
******  
As Kaiba called them....one of the 'Saber Wolves' paced infront of the small furry army. They seemed to do nothing and the Saber Wolf was letting a good meal slip away for waiting on these 'things'. Finally, it swiped a paw at one of the Kuriboh and the second Saber Wolf farther back watched as the paw slid through. The second one growled a deadly sound and lunged off the ground, through the mass of holograms onto the palace steps. The one remaining inside did the same and sat out besides its other, trying to find a scent to follow.  
  
******  
There was a long pause between the two, until Bakura broke it with an expression of worry. {Are you ok..? Yami said before when you left that you had a 'flash of the past' but I didn't understand what he meant, you wouldn't answer me through the mental link either.....}  
  
[Hai....it was only...a memory....]   
  
******  
Though none of the group, realized what was in store for them, and what was coming to seek their flesh.  
  
******  
  
  
  
Bahahahahahaha! Hey, I let Bakura live....for now ^^ All thanks to his yami. Of course...poor Akei...his awful memories of being sealed in the ring coming back to haunt him.... I am so cruel! 


	6. Dear Ra

Eh...this might be short, I'm in a jam known to authors/authoresses as "writer's block" Let's see now though....  
  
******  
"YamiYamiYamiYamiYamiYamiYamiYamiYamiYamiYamiYamiYamiYamiYamiYami!" Yugi began yelling in a worried voice, his head spinning. "Whatdowedo?! Whatdowedo?! Whatdowedo?! Whatdowedo?!"  
  
"AIBOU!"  
  
".......What.......?"  
  
"CALM DOWN!"  
  
"Eh....but YAMI!"  
  
"Just. Relax. We'll figure something out."  
  
Akei leaned against a wall of the alley. "Now would be a good time to figure something out...." He muttered.  
  
"I want my card back...."   
  
"Oh brother...." Was Akei's only responds, watching as the two Saber Wolves clawed their way closer and closer. "Hey....maybe monsters can't do much, but Magic Cards should work..."  
  
Yami lifted his head to stare at Akei. "Good point, you have anything that may work...?"  
  
".....I got one......but it will hurt us too......"  
  
"Well? What is it?! As you can tell we DON'T have much time! One of those THINGS in coming this way, the other one vanished...."  
  
Akei pulled a card from his deck of the Duel Disk. "Tremendous Fire..."  
  
"Aibou. Go to your soul room."  
  
"What, Yami, why...?" Yugi stared confused.  
  
"Because I don't want you to get hurt..." The puzzle glowed and Yugi was pulled into his soul room, Bakura was still in his own. "You do realize this IS going to hurt, right?" Akei just nodded. "Alright, let's go make ourselves known." Yami sighed as him and Akei moved out into the open from the alley, he could feel Yugi's anticipation and questions of what was going on, but he refused to answer. It would worry him too much. Akei stared at the card himself, reading as if a zombie of what it would normally do.  
  
"Inflicts 1000 points of Direct Damage to your opponents Life Points and 500 points of Direct Damage to your Life Points." He shook his head as a Saber Wolf was lunging itself at them. Yami snapped his head to Akei, wishing he would hurry and stop stalling. "Tremendous Fire!!" The yami literally slammed the card down to activate it, spinning the disk out towards the wolf (who easily dodged it).   
  
"It must think you're Bakura or something..."  
  
"I'd brace yourself..."  
  
Yami winced as an uproar of flames came into play, burning into the Saber Wolf before engulfing them. The former pharaoh couldn't help but fall to a knee and let out a yell of pain. But it wasn't like he was the only one, Akei followed suit (not intentionally), the flame eating away at him.   
  
{Yami! No! What are you doing?! Yami! Oh please be ok......}  
  
The flames died down, leaving a dead beast and Akei and the former pharaoh laying flat to the ground. Bakura and Yugi quickly scattered from their soul rooms to the dark's sides.   
  
"They're still alive, Yugi...but they are really hurt......"  
  
Yugi tried holding back tears as he stared at Yami. "This is why he made me go into my soul room...I wish he had told me.....I never suspected they would do this...."   
  
"I know what you mean....but it did work, the Saber Wolf isn't moving over there. That's one of two."  
  
".....Yeah....."  
  
******  
About an hour had gone by and no one exactly moved much. Yami and Akei were sitting cross-legged with their aibous sitting slightly before them and yet to the sides. The former tomb-robber simple stared at his Magic Card, too pained to move.   
  
"That....hurt more then I thought it would......"  
  
"I can't believe you two did that!"  
  
"Sorry aibou.." Yami murmured, supporting his head with his hands.  
  
Again, Yugi spoke up. "Hey....weren't there TWO of those? Did ya fry 'em both?"  
  
Akei and Yami looked at each other with a worrisome look before back to their hikaris. "Um....not...exactly aibou.....see, there was only one there...the other um....-"  
  
"The other freaking disappeared."  
  
"Er, yeah."  
  
Bakura and Yugi looked at each other before scurrying off the ground.  
  
{Why didn't you tell us?! I'm still being hunted then!}  
  
[Bakura, calm down.]  
  
{Just try and calm me down! Honestly this is too crazy to calm down! How the heck do you think I can calm-} Bakura fell to the ground and stared up at his yami, who had just hit him. The light coughed a few times, the impact wasn't that painful at least, just enough to snap Bakura from his crazed thoughts. Yami and Yugi looked bewilder, but Bakura spoke calmly, standing up with a helping hand of his darkness. "Thanks."  
  
"Now will you calm down?"  
  
"Yeah....eh...just kind of lost it there."  
  
"Obviously."  
  
"Hey-" The boy froze, body and all until he began shaking. His knees buckled and fell forward to them before Akei could stop him.  
  
"Bakura!" Akei kneeled down, waving a hand infront of Bakura's colorless face. All his features were drained, and nothing seemingly would snap him out. "Bakura, Bakura!! AIBOU!!" Now it was Akei's turn for a 'breakdown' but what would you do if your other half wasn't moving? The dark half looked over to Yami, whispering out in a rasp voice. "He won't respond, and the mental link is blank......."  
  
{Faiteir......n.......na......sai...}  
  
"Scratch that. There's a voice that's not Bakura coming through the mental link saying our two favorite words 'faiteir nasai' weakly."  
  
"That's not a good sign, is it Yami?"  
  
"No dear prey, it's not a good sign for or the boy. Don't worry, you'll see the end but first the boy."  
  
Yami looked around, yet saw nothing....no one. "Who's there?!"  
  
"Enough hostilities, shall we get this over with?"  
  
"SHOW YOURSELF!" Akei finally snapped, an arm around Bakura to try and support him off the ground. It wasn't working too well.  
  
"Fine, fine." The figure stepped from the shadows after its mocking tone. "So, you there besides the boy, are you his blood? You look it, you shall be meat after I'm done with _him_."   
  
Three sets of eyes widened. It was a Saber Wolf. A talking one at that.   
  
"What? Never seen something talk, is that it? Fine then, I won't talk." A smirk rolled across the creatures jaws, an abnormally long tongue rolling out to lick saliva from its teeth. Akei was now gripping Bakura's shoulders with both hands.  
  
"Ever think 'soul room'?!"  
  
"Don't you think I thought of that Pharaoh?!" Akei returned with the same cruel tone to the other ancient one. Even if Bakura couldn't, Yugi did return, too feared to stay out in the path of the canine.  
  
"Hmm....one vanished....how _sad_ guess I only have three now..." The creature was mocking them, moving in a slow pace with a cackle skipping with each phrase it spoke. With Bakura all 'statue' like, they couldn't leave either.   
  
"Looks like this is the end of the road Pharaoh."  
  
"Dear Ra...."  
  
The Saber Fang stopped its mimicking and lunging at Bakura......but seemed sliced in thirds before vanishing with one last whimper of pain. In its place landed Ryu-Kishin. "What the heck.....?"  
  
"Funny, I would think either of you would think that this city still can support shadow monsters at least a little bit. Guess I had to prove it, though this holo-admitter needed to help some, I must admit." A voice spoke out, quite loudly as in a swirl of flying colors, Ryu-Kishin was gone.  
  
"Kaiba?!" Yami stared in surprise when the figure walked a foot away from them, deep blue trench coat flowing slightly and a dull greened shirt ruffled from the easy battle for him. "Why are _you_ here?"  
  
"Can't I help out my friends?" The looks on their faces seemed to answer the CEO. "Fine. The phone went dead." He held up a cell phone and signaled to it before slipping it in his pocket again. "And I unfortunately have a conscience."  
  
"What's........going on.........?" Bakura murmured, his color returning as he tumbled into a lump on the ground, Akei kneeled by him, patting his shoulder slightly.  
  
[Good to see you alive.]  
  
{When did Kaiba get here......?}  
  
[Donno, but he just pummeled away the Saber Fang that thought you were a perfect meal.]  
  
{Eh....}  
  
"Wait a second! How long have you been watching?!" Yami snapped, pointing an accusing figure at Kaiba who held his hands up in defense before lowering them and smirking.  
  
"Ever since Yugi went to his little room of course." He shrugged. "I wanted to see how the two of you Egyptian spirits would react to a near death experience."  
  
"Why you!" Yami began to dive at Kaiba, but a familiar presence pulled him back. The former Pharaoh snapped his head around......and down. Yugi. "Aibou! Why did you do that?!"  
  
"Let's not kill someone who can get us out of here..."  
  
"Eh....right......." He paused to look at Kaiba's remaining smirk and grunted before continuing what he was saying. "Bakura, where exactly was your dad's dig stationed....?"  
  
******  
  
  
  
That was kind of a lame chapter. And short. Can you believe it? I have a writer's block on all my stories! My mind like refuses to register anything! ARG! THIS IS MINDGRINDING!! Sorry....anyone else have a severe case of writer's block?   
  
Eh....anyway.........though Seto's whole "speech" of Cairo still having some power to support duel monsters with the help slightly of the duel disc probably isn't possible, don't tell me that! Lol, it works, ok? Ryu-Kishin is cool looking....yeah know that? I have its card...heh....I'll try and try and TRY to get a chapter up in good time....but its soooooooo hard! I drew a picture of a brick and lil' stick figures chipping at it and drilling and using dynamite on it....has a dude guiding bulls to run into it and a person falling off it and finally two people with little pointing hats around a cauldron chanting "Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble, make this writer's block go away on the double". Yes, I have no life, but I had to do SOMETHING! Ugh...I still can't think.....I should go back and edit this...but I'm too lazy, I hope it's ok.... 


	7. Silver Night Dances

I have a brainstorm! Kinda freakish, but it's something. I'm listening to Loreena McKennitt while I type this, tranquil music...she's a good singer. For now, the Saber Wolves are gone, it won't last though.....  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any lyrics to the song The Mystic's Dream by Loreena McKennitt.  
  
******  
Bakura turned his head from Yami at the mentioning of his father, but spoke up anyway. "I-I'm not quite sure...it was close to the city....but where exactly I'm not sure..."  
  
"It's ok, Bakura, we'll have to find it though." Yami looked up at the darkening sky before back to the group standing around him. "First thing tomorrow. It's getting late and we should get some rest soon." His eyes fell on the two hikaris, Yugi and Bakura. "You two get the beds, Kaiba keep watch. Me and Akei will stay in our soul rooms.....most likely at least..." Akei shot him a look as if he was going to wander, Yami was thinking the same thing. The only problem was Seto's complaints.  
  
"Why do I have keep watch?"  
  
Yami smirked as he turned and headed towards the palace, speaking up loud enough for EVERYONE to hear. "Because, my priest, you haven't been here as long as us." The others heard a chuckle and blinked at each other before following after the former Pharaoh, Seto the last one to move.  
  
"I think being in Egypt again is getting to his head..."  
  
"I heard that!"  
  
Seto gulped and followed after the group of four ahead of him.   
  
******  
Yugi and Bakura took sleeping in the beds quickly, dosing off in a matter of minutes. Kaiba leaned in the doorway of their small room, staring out the window with an agitated grin as night crept over the city of Cairo.   
  
Now...the two yamis had both gone to wander through the palace. Akei seemed paranoid because the last time he wandered off, a Saber Wolf decided to try and kill him. A yami served on a silver platter, might taste good.....to a canine that is. Yami seemed in an almost bright mood, it was like being home. He felt right being here.  
  
"I hate this place.....I should have stayed in my soul room....." Yami glanced at the direction of grumbling, only seeing a silhouette of Akei besides him. The former Pharaoh couldn't blame the other yami though, this place was the last thing Akei saw before becoming trapped within the ring.   
  
"Then why don't you...?"  
  
"Don't I what?" He hissed back.  
  
"Go back to your soul room."  
  
"No idea."  
  
******  
Little did the two yamis know, someone had left their post to follow them. A certain Kaiba wanted to get a peek around the palace he was so called "high priest" in. Was that so wrong? Why was it he was forced to watch over the dark half's lights? So in ancient times he was under Yami's rule, well, not now!  
  
The CEO slid up behind a column, back against the smooth marble feeling material. His brunette head turned around the curved column to see the two yamis standing before a large set of doors, hieroglyphics covering it. He listened hard, hearing Yami beginning to talk before the former high priest turned himself around for a better view, and less chance of hurting his neck.   
  
"I don't remember this...." Yami stepped forward and tried opening the doors with Akei's assistance, but the door refused to budge. Sighing in defeat, Yami stepped back, scanning his ruby eyes along the ancient symbols before starting to speak out loud what it read. He glanced at Akei from the corner of his eyes, still chanting in his native tongue and signaling Akei to join in. Which he reluctantly chanted along the hieroglyphics.   
  
Seto slithered away from the column, since the two were distracted enough, he didn't need to worry about hiding. Folding his arms over his chest, he allowed a smirk to plaster over his face. But what caught him off guard....was the two large doors the duo darkness's were chanting from.  
  
It was opening.  
  
Kaiba fell back in surprise, losing his composure for a moment or two. He shook his head roughly and looked back to the doors fully opened, the yamis stepping within a large room.   
  
Faintly, a glow enveloped the two doors, beckoning for Seto to enter. In his mind, he refused it....but his body had other plans. With his gaze falling to look at his legs, the CEO only found himself walking in a slow...trance state.   
  
Clearing the doors he looked around, Yami and Akei standing in the center of some circle, both confused. There were no other doors but that one, no windows either. Just walls. A square room.   
  
Abruptly after Seto had entered, the doors snapped close in a loud slam that seemed to shake the palace. And the three were left in darkness.   
  
"What the hell is going on?!" Akei snapped, eyes darting around to try and see anything, but the darkness was all that was shown. His gaze brought him to the cause of the sound, where the doors were, even though he couldn't see them.  
  
"I don't know...."  
  
Seto remained silent, it's all he really could do.  
  
Out of nowhere though, four silver slivers of light emerged to shine on the circle Yami and Akei were standing on. One light from every corner of the room. Seto blinked, at least he couldn't be seen, but he could sure see the other two.   
  
Each person in the room jumped, a soft voice was singing out a Celtic type of song. The source was unseen.  
  
"A clouded dream on an earthly night..."  
  
".....So oh great one....any idea what is going on...?" Akei murmured in his normal and expected sarcastic tone of voice.  
  
"I wish."  
  
******  
Yugi jerked awake from his bed, yelling out with sweat making its way from his forehead. "Yami!" At his sudden outburst, Bakura stirred and sat up, looking over to his multi-haired friend.  
  
"What is it Yugi...?"  
  
"Yami is gone!"  
  
"Yeah...I know.....he went of with my yami to explore the palace....remember...?"  
  
"No! He's GONE! Not even in the palace anymore! I can't even connect to him through our mental link!"  
  
Bakura paused and closed his eyes. {Yami? Where are you two?}  
  
...........  
  
"I-I can't connect to mine either......where could they be?"  
  
"And where's Kaiba....?"  
  
******  
A second voice joined in with the song of the first, continuing where the other finished off.   
  
".....Hangs upon the crescent moon." At this sentence sang, the walls began to let off a very faint golden glow, but it was enough to illuminate the room. And show where Seto was standing.  
  
"Kaiba!"  
  
"Eh....hey Yami."  
  
"What are you doing here you're supposed to be-" Yami paused and realized Akei was pointing to one of the walls and tapping the former Pharaoh's shoulder. Yami turned to face it and saw two women, forest green eyes and thin black hair flowing to their ankles. They were barefoot, and skin seemed very dark and tanned. Egyptian markings coated their faces slightly, and bodies were covered in golden silk robes. They had paused their singing when Yami had yelled out to Kaiba, observing the three almost. And a third women appeared behind the mentioned CEO, looking just like the other two. This caught Seto off guard and he turned on his heel to face her. He wasn't in that placing for long.   
  
As soon as he had turned to her, she pushed him backwards roughly, causing him to fall into the circle Yami and Akei were on. With that done, it seemed someone had activated a fog machine. But it wasn't artificial....this was real mist, covering several inches from the floor.   
  
The three women joined in a line against one wall, once again beginning their singing. But what Akei realized, each line they sung....the circle beneath then was glowering silver, brighter each time. The tom-robber outstretched a palm, finding that where the edge of the circle was...upwards from it, led a barrier. They were trapped.   
  
Two of the Egyptian women parted ways and went dancing move by move around the walls of the room. The third stepped forward and danced around the circular barrier, she was the main singer.  
  
"...A voiceless song on an ageless light..."  
  
"...Sings at the coming dawn..."  
  
"...Birds in flight are calling there..."  
  
Now the one encircling their barrier raised her arms to the ceiling, clasping hands together as she sang above the others, falling into a kneel. "...Where the heart moves the stones..."  
  
'This is too damn confusing....Is this some freaking ritual or something?!' Akei thought in annoyance, trying to follow the switching of voices. Yami and Seto were equally in confusion, eyes darted back and forth between the three women.   
  
But with one to her knees, the other two followed suit...singing out loudly. "It's there my heart is longing for.....all for the love of you." Every lighting in the room fades to blackness after the "ending" of the song.  
  
Almost beginning that the women were gone, Seto glanced through the darkness, figuring that they really were gone. Boy. When you're wrong, you're wrong.   
  
The voices joined to one large one, bouncing off the walls into an echo. They were directed.....to Yami. "Our Pharaoh...you have at last returned to us. The people need you now. The time of unnatural darkness if creeping in on our fair city. A tomb has been awakened, the dark spells masking it have been released. You must protect us. You must protect the city."  
  
The former Pharaoh flinched....this was not what he expected in happening. Why can't anything ever be simple? Now...a mere voice spoke separate from the others, it seemed by a rustle that she had stood from her kneel....or maybe it was a bow?  
  
"I sense two others with you, ancient ones. Our high priest and..." Her thoughts must have been clouded.  
  
"And a tomb-robber." Another voice aided the confused one, hissing out those four words. "He shall not be here! He must not live!" A gold light flickered to light the entire room, the barrier dropping and the three women standing in a triangle format facing them. Each had a glare, cemented to their faces, aimed at Akei. The closest one to them snapped a hand to point at Akei, a strong power of magic illuminating around her, and it was enough to send Akei flying from the ground and into a wall, groaning painfully.  
  
The two others parted ways and inched towards him, being fed strength from the third who remained still. An order snapped from her mouth, Seto and Yami hanging on every word. "DESTROY HIM! Destroy the tomb-robber! HE SHALL NOT LIVE!"  
  
******  
  
  
  
Eek! Man....first Bakura and now Akei....aren't I so mean to them? I was going to make this longer...but I just HAD to end it there, it was perfect! And now I'm out of one writer's block...two others to break from. What the three women were singing, was a part from The Mystic's Dream, but was NOT the entire song. Sorry if it was confusing...I will give those three names hopefully next chapter so it will be able to address them.....Oh, and here's the lyrics to the part of the song sang...  
  
A clouded dream on an earthly night  
Hangs upon the crescent moon  
A voiceless song in an ageless light  
Sings at the coming dawn  
Birds in flight are calling there  
Where the heart moves the stones  
It's there that my heart is longing  
All for the love of you  
  
And until next chapter...abiz! 


	8. Uncertain Death

So, are you impatient of waiting? Worried about Akei? Is he gonna live....die? Well....let's just see. But not right away. Heh, heh, this chapter is VERY informative, so pay attention ^^   
  
******  
"Bakura....do you think they're ok....?" Yugi whispered, sitting on his blankets with legs pulled into his chest.  
  
"I really don't know Yugi....most likely Kaiba is with them....so they have three duel disks....they should be....ok...." Bakura said hanging his legs over the side of his bed and staring down at the Millennium Ring. "I really hope they're safe, I couldn't live otherwise."  
  
"I know what you mean..."  
  
"So what do we do...?" Chocolate brown eyes met to look into that of Yugi's crimson. They sat there in silence, trying to figure out an answer to Bakura's question. What _would_ they do? What would anyone expect two lights to do while their dark halves are somewhere.   
  
But the two, and Seto were still in the palace. Only the room they were in was concealed by a magic, hiding their presences.  
  
"We go find them."  
  
"....Yugi?"  
  
"We have to try! Maybe they ARE still in the palace! Come on Bakura!" Yugi bolted upwards, leaving the room quickly....Bakura slowly being almost dragged along.  
  
******  
Akei attempted moving from his position on the ground against the wall, but a force still held him against it. The two women were a mere foot from him, smirking down at the former tomb-robber, as if looking forward to this. Akei cringed and closed his eyes, there was no escaping a final death now. He felt as a magic irrupted around both of them, ready to strike him with the command of the third.  
  
"Now! Kill h-"  
  
"STOP!" A commanding tone broke the woman's voice to silence. Everyone, including Akei looked to the source of it. Yami. A very pissed former Pharaoh at that. "I demand to know who you three are!!"  
  
The two turned away from Akei and looked to the "leader" of the three, who spoke up. "My name is Ayane, one of the three Shinsei sisters, and the oldest."  
  
A second one spoke up, drawing attention to her. "I am Tayla Shinsei."  
  
"And I am Rekanna Shinsei."  
  
Yami stared at them blankly, and the oldest of the sisters took this to command the death of Akei. "NOW finish him!"  
  
"Yes my sister." The two said together, turning to face Akei once again.   
  
"I SAID STOP!!" Yami stormed, surprising Kaiba. "You will NOT harm anyone in this room whilst I am around!"  
  
"He is a tomb-robber. He must be killed," Ayane objected, folding her arms over her chest.  
  
"He WAS a tomb-robber! This is not five-thousand years ago! This is our present time!"  
  
"You will not decide this man's fate. Sisters atta-"  
  
"You want me to save this city?! And yet here you are not even listening to a word I freaking say! If you kill him, you can bet I find a chair to recline in and watch this city be overtaken by darkness!!"  
  
"Yami...maybe you should calm down...." Seto began, only to receive a dark hate filled look from narrowed ruby eyes.  
  
"Shut up, Kaiba!"  
  
The CEO backed off. Even in a duel, he has NEVER seen Yami yell that bad. He was beyond enraged....was this how he was as Pharaoh...?  
  
The three sisters stared in shock at the Pharaoh. Here he was, risking the whole city of Cairo if they killed Akei. AKEI was staring in shock. Ayane seemed to growl as she lifted a hand and the silver-haired fell forward, roughly broken from the spell that held him painfully against the wall. Without even looking from Ayane, Yami called out loudly, but not as harsh as he was before. "You ok, Akei?"  
  
"I've....been better....."  
  
Yami smirked and began walking towards Ayane while Kaiba helped Akei off the ground, following the former Pharaoh. He was ready to walk past the sister to the door when she grabbed his arm, looking into his eyes with pain in her own.  
  
"How long.....has it been since.....since you were Pharaoh....?"  
  
Yami stared confusingly, didn't she know? "A millennia...."  
  
"T-that long....?" Ayane sank to her knees, hand still lingering on Yami's arm. She stared at the floor in sadness, her other two sisters (equal in age) stared at Ayane, similar pain and sorrow in those forest green eyes.  
  
"Didn't you know....?"  
  
"We were trapped into this room, when the Shadow Games were sealed away....we had no idea....it's been....so long........and still....we cannot leave."  
  
Akei turned his head slightly, arm around Kaiba supporting him from tipping over, body still sore from being slammed into the wall at such speed. "But...that doesn't mean we can't leave...right?"  
  
The three Shinsei sisters fell silent.  
  
Seto's eyes widened. "You mean we can't leave?!"  
  
Rekanna spoke up, stepping forward with Tayla matching the pace. "No one has ever been able to open the doors in the first place. Once the door is opened though, the people outside of it are pulled in by the magic of the room, and when they are all in....the door seals closed. It can only be opened by the outside."  
  
Akei hung his head and fell over to the ground. So much for Seto's support. "So our only hopes of getting out of here...."  
  
"....are Yugi and Bakura." Yami finished.  
  
******  
"Bakura....where the heck are we going?" Yugi complained, trudging down a dark hall behind his light haired friend.   
  
"I don't know...but the ring is pulling me this way..." He whispered, and then suddenly stopped walking.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Bakura raised an arm and pointed to two large doors, illuminating with a soft golden gold. "That's where the ring points."  
  
"Let's open it and see if our yamis are there!" Yugi perked up, running at the door and attempting to shove it open. "It won't budge!"  
  
"Hey...look....that looks like that Egyptian writing....uh....hieroglyphics.." Bakura murmured, voice indicating to the door as Yugi looked up at it.  
  
"Can you read it.......?"  
  
"Sort of.."  
  
Yugi blinked at him, Bakura only shrugged. "I've been reading a book that says what the symbols stand for. I thought it would be cool."  
  
"Does your yami know?"  
  
"Eh...no...kind of a surprise, ne?"  
  
"Right....so what's it say?"  
  
He stepped forward, lifting his head to stare his eyes over the writing, judging it almost. What surprised BOTH of the two, was when Bakura started reading it...he was speaking Egyptian.  
  
"Uh...Bakura...? When did you learn that....?"  
  
Bakura shook his head and fell to his knees, leaning against the door. "I don't know, Yugi...I don't know...." The mentioned boy stepped over and helped Bakura to stand again. "It said something about like.... 'behind these doors is trapped a secret, three mages caught by a spell...to enter two are needed, chant the ancient language and let the doors flow open.'"  
  
"That's really freaky."  
  
"Yeah, I know....but that means both of us have to read it! From what happened a minute ago, I should be fine...but can you read it?"  
  
"I-I don't know...I don't think I can..."  
  
"It just entered my mind and flowed out when I was about to translate for you, you have to try Yugi!"  
  
"YUGI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
Crimson eyes lurched up to stare at the door, Yugi's mouth dropping open as he pushed himself against it. "Yami! Yami is that you? Are you all in there?!"  
  
******  
Yami smirked from leaning against the door. "Told you it would work."  
  
"Oh shut up..." Akei cursed, still sitting against the floor.  
  
"Yugi! We're trapped in here! The doors can only be opened from the outside!"  
  
"Hey oh great one! Ever think this? They need to know the ancient tongue to open the doors...they don't know it!"  
  
"I know it!"  
  
Akei looked up towards the doors, hearing his aibou's voice call through it. "I know it! I don't know how....it just flowed to me when I was translating over the hieroglyphics!"  
  
Yami blinked over at a surprised Akei before facing the door again and speaking just loud enough for the two outsiders to hear. "Bakura, repeat it over and over again until Yugi gets it word for word."  
  
"Alright!"  
  
Yami turned and leaned his back against the doors.  
  
"They won't succeed."  
  
The former Pharaoh looked in anger to Rekanna, eyes narrowing. "You don't know these two. They CAN do it!"  
  
******  
"Alright, you heard your yami, Yugi. Let's see...I'll try to say it slowly..." Yugi stared at the doors as did Bakura, who had began chanting the words on the door in the Egyptian language. He would finish and begin it again, and so on...until Yugi began to chant along with the lingo. He couldn't believe he was doing this, it was kind of exciting....the yamis had saved them earlier, and now they get to save the yamis....plus Seto.   
  
Bakura's ring began to glow as half the double doors did as well....and Yugi stared down at his chest where the puzzle rested, seeing it do the same with reacting to the other half of the two doors. He winced when he heard a rumbling sound and grabbed Bakura's arm, pulling him backwards. "Yugi! What are you-"  
  
"The doors are opening! Let's NOT get hit by them!"  
  
"Oh...right..." Bakura blushed at the fact he didn't notice.   
  
******  
Akei groaned when he realized the doors opening toward the outside. That meant he had to stand, and that was a very challenging feat at the moment. First, it's getting burnt by fire, then it was being slammed in who knows what speed into a stone wall. His back still was in pained from that.   
  
Kaiba took the first chance and slid through and out the tiny narrowed space of the doors (they were slow at opening). Yami looked back at the three sisters.   
  
"We must leave. And I will not let darkness overthrow this city, Pharaoh or not. But now, we must leave, before that happens."  
  
The oldest nodded before speaking up, walking backwards to step between her sisters. "Thank you, we give you our blessings....in succeeding."  
  
Yami started walking for the door when he realized....Akei was still sitting pained.  
  
"Come on Yami!" Bakura yelled to his darkness from the outside, being held by Yugi in not running in to fetch him. Yami rolled his eyes and walked to the former tomb-robber, grabbing his arm and DRAGGING him across the floor and out the doors, just as they were closing behind. Yami pulled at the arm and shoved Akei roughly to his feet, who didn't quite stay that way and found a pillar to lean against.  
  
"Hmph." Yami folded his arms, shaking his head. "Not even a bit of gratitude, I should have left you with those sisters."  
  
"I'm too tired for gratitude..."  
  
"I'm going to sleep." Everyone looked to Bakura, who had his ring glowing as he vanished into Akei's body, aka, his soul room.  
  
[Why...?]  
  
{You all talk too loud...I'm sleeping here, that way you can use some of my strength or whatever....Ow...it's sore in your mind...what happened in there..?}  
  
[Oh nothing much just being thrown into one of these lovely stone walls at some speed that no one can figure out. Nothing I can't handle.]  
  
{Sure doesn't seem like you handled it...}   
  
[.....]   
  
"Helloooooo? Akei? Anyone home?" Akei flinched at Yami's hand being wavered infront of his face.  
  
"What..?"  
  
"Man you really do need rest."  
  
Akei glared at him. "I was talking to Bakura."  
  
"Speaking of which....he IS the ONLY reason we got out of there..."  
  
The light besides Yami nodded (Seto leaned against a wall away from them). "Yami's right, I couldn't read the...hieroglyphics...but Bakura could sort of and we he was able to read it in Egyptian in some...weird way...."  
  
[How could you read the hieroglyphics?]  
  
{You always said I read too much..}  
  
Akei smirked slightly.  
  
"Can we _please_ get some sleep now....? All three of your disappearances threw a perfectly good sleep out of whack." Yugi complained, staring over at his dark half wearily. But Yami simply smiled and nodded, giving an odd look to Kaiba before him, Akei, Yugi and reluctantly Kaiba went down the hall back to where they were to sleep. Yami slipped into his soul room whilst his aibou took a bed, surprisingly Akei in the other and Kaiba....on the floor.   
  
******  
The sun peeked into the room, waking Akei first who stood stretching, allowing Bakura to take form back. {Everyone else is still asleep...but it is early by the looks of it...Are you staying in your soul room?}  
  
[For now at least...until everyone else wakes up...] Bakura nodded at his yami's responds and looked at Kaiba who was leaning against the corner of the wall. He would be sore from that.   
  
{I wish there were something I could do...I feel so helpless....} Bakura thought through his mental link. Only...he didn't realize that it had slipped through the link, he thought it was simply to himself...not openly to his yami.  
  
[You're not helpless.]  
  
{What...?} Bakura's eyes widened as he sat on the edge of his bed.  
  
[You didn't want me to hear that....did you?]  
  
{I.....no...}  
  
Akei shook his head from his soul room and materialized infront of his hikari, arms folded over his chest and eyes slightly narrowed but a glint in them that Bakura could see sympathy. "Bakura. You are not helpless. For one thing it was because of _you_ Kaiba, Yami, and I got out of that room last night. Do not let what I have said in the past haunt you now. Don't let it get to you no matter how harmful it sounded..." Akei tilted his head up slightly and turned it to stare out the window, before returning to the ring...thus his soul room.   
  
Bakura simply sat there, running his yami's words through his mind. Yugi stirred slightly, but not enough to wake fully. 'I hope my yami isn't offended or something...when I thought that I wasn't thinking of the past...painful as thoughs times were, they don't matter now...He's starting to really try and help....' The silver-haired boy raised his glance to two sacks by the window and a smile rippled over his lips to cheekbones. One word: Food.  
  
The boy stood, walking only a few inches before kneeling and opened the sack closest to him. 'I wonder what Yugi's and my yamis foraged from the kitchen...? I haven't eaten in awhile...good thing we brought food....' The first thing his hand grabbed was something very....mushy. He pulled up and out a bulk of brown, which were supposed to be yellow. Silently, Bakura cursed, then opened up the link as he threw the bulk in the sack. {YAMI!!!!!}  
  
Akei literally jumped from the floor of his soul room. Here he was, sitting half comfortable, fiddling idly with his ring when Bakura decided to voice himself very loudly through the mental link.  
  
[W-what....?!]  
  
{You. Packed. BANANAS?!}  
  
[I think that was Yami...]  
  
{........This is really gross......} The boy ignored the brown bananas he put back in the sack and reached in to pull out an orange. Instinct took over, or maybe not instinct....more like darkness...had him peeling the orange...and throwing the peels at the one and only Seto Kaiba. Of course that didn't wake him, but Bakura actually found it quite humorous. {If you wanted control, even a little bit, you could of just said something...}  
  
[Eh....sorry.]  
  
******  
At long last, everyone was awake. They had each gotten past eating, Seto's minor tantrum over the orange peels (he had tried attacking Bakura only to have the dark half appear and hit him back), and were already on the steps of the palace.   
  
"Alright...how I hate to lay this on you Bakura...but we need you to find where your dad was...." Yami said staring at the boy who stared back almost...angrily. The former Pharaoh folded his arms and waited, but didn't get the answer he was looking for.  
  
"What do you mean 'how I hate to lay this on you'? What, do you think I can't do it or something?! Why can't you believe me?!" Bakura hissed, causing the four others to stare. Yami seemed empty of a responds, and that made Bakura even madder. "Come on....answer me!!" He was about to continue when he fell to his knees, landing awkwardly because of the steps. Akei kneeled besides him and shook him, calling out his name with no success of snapping the glazed boy out of it. Bakura stared forward, not at anyone or anything in particular.   
  
[Faiteir nasai.....faiteir nasai......faiteir nasai......faiteir nasai...]  
  
Bakura cringed and half came back to reality, curling as best he could as the two haunting words struck over through his mental link. His voice cried out, tears breaking the barrier that held them in his eyes. "Yami stop it! PLEASE STOP!!"   
  
Yami's eyes flashed up at a confused Akei who was shaking his head at the accusing words.  
  
"Bakura...I-I'm not doing anything....!"  
  
[Faiteir nasai.....faiteir nasai......faiteir nasai......faiteir nasai...]  
  
"MAKE IT STOP!"  
  
Akei forced the ring to draw his body within Bakura's soul room. At least it was a normal room now, not like the storage place it used to be. Just a bed room kind of thing, his bed and such.   
  
But he didn't expect to hear what was heard when he arrived. The paining echo of 'faiteir nasai' bouncing through the walls, entering his mind through Bakura's mental link. He couldn't hold himself up any longer, falling to the floor on his knees of his hikari's soul room. 'This must be it...Bakura must think I'm saying this over his mental link...' He cringed painfully, it was like some kind of spell, almost. The pain doubled over and he held back the urge to scream, using the power and energy he had left to take over Bakura's form, setting the boy in his soul room so he was in control. But that's when he let loose a loud, ear aching scream of pain, making everyone realize it was Akei, not Bakura. He shook violently for a few minutes, unable to hold himself together as the words pushed and pulled at all angles of his mind.  
  
Yami knelt down and tried aiding the former tomb-robber to no success. But he did manage to notice the ring glowing with a flamed gold and one arrow pointing out to a certain part of the desert beyond the city.   
  
They would go there later. First thing though was to snap BOTH Bakura's from whatever pain they were experiencing.  
  
"Akei! AKEI! Dammit snap out of it! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Yami called out, watching the other yami curl in defense and pain. "AKEI!!"   
  
"Yami....it's no use.....something is really hurting them......"  
  
"I know aibou, I know....but why is it always them as the targets...?"  
  
******  
Bakura stood breathing in gasps within his soul room, looking down at the floor. The pain had decreased, most likely because his yami took over. 'I really don't think he's ok.....'  
  
{Yami? Can you hear me....? Please Yami listen to my voice!!}  
  
******  
Akei was indeed within his soul room, half of him at least. He was out in the city of Cairo on the palace steps, and yet in some black void almost. More dark then the Shadow Realm...more painful....resurfacing past memories....  
  
His many tombs being victims of his cruel antics.  
  
Being locked in the ring.   
  
The Shadow Realm.  
  
Being banished to the Graveyard, thus the Shadow Realm.  
  
Dansei.  
  
The Shadow Realm.  
  
Egypt.  
  
This stupid black void.  
  
One memory caught his eye though and he paused it with all the power he could to play it through. It was the one thing that may prove useful from all this pain.  
  
***Flashback***  
Two figures hid in the shadows of an alley way, noise from a near market very faint at the time of day they were in. Both were cloaked, head to toe and deep brown robes, even in the heat plus the robes they didn't feel too hot. At a long silence, one man broke it, talking in a low monotone voice. "You may be good kid....but you are not good enough for where you wish to go." He paused and thought something over a moment. "You know the Shadow Games, you know the Shadow Realm. Well. This tomb...is worse then you can ever imagine. Filled with pain and creatures neither feline or canine. Creatures stronger then wolves, teeth and slyness of cats...and yet...smarter then us. But the darkness in that tomb, could overthrow us in a few simple tactics, bringing pain to the family of whoever was the first to go near the spell.....then it will feast...on everyone and everything else..." Again the figure paused and raised his head slightly. "Of all the things you can do. Do NOT ever enter that tomb!"  
  
"......." The second figure looked away slightly, only to have his face roughly grabbed to look at the main speaker.  
  
"You understand, Bakura?!"  
  
"Yes..." Came the slow and reluctant responds.  
  
***End Flashback***  
Akei winced in pain again, but then he couldn't feel it...  
  
Because his body went numb.  
  
******  
A crude remark came from Seto Kaiba who's seemed to be staying away from the others, but it was a true fact he stated. "He's unconscious."  
  
Yami looked down with a worried expression when Akei had falling motionlessly against the steps. The former check for a pulse and sighed with relief that he was till alive. "He's not dead at least, but I have no idea what is going on with him.  
  
******  
Bakura stood within the small "hall" of space between soul room doors. Something dark seemed to be seeping from the doors of his yami's room, it was frightening and yet Bakura pushed forward nevertheless. The door took most of his effort to open and once he did, all he saw was blackness.  
  
No...wait....that's not all he saw. Within the center of the darkness floated an unconscious form, curled tightly and shaking rapidly. The voice had left both of their minds, but it seemed it did more damage to Akei then Bakura. "That would probably be me in there if he hadn't taken control...and if it were me....he'd probably find some way to cut me lose of the darkness...." Bakura paused in thought, hands curling into fists as he stared down at his ring the best he could in the room of never ending black. "...And I have to do that same..."  
  
'Let me see now....my yami can control the ring easily without thinking....but so far it's responding off my emotions. All I need is enough light to chase out the darkness....I'm a hikari for gods sake! It should be easy!' Bakura slammed his eyes closed and ignored the dark feeling around him and focused on his yami's form. He wasn't about to let his yami be taken by his worst nightmare...darkness.  
  
That's the one thing he knew Akei feared. Being locked in eternal darkness....and he would not fail his yami, when he needed help the most. Voice raising to cut through the void, Bakura shouted at the top of his lungs in almost a commanding voice...to the ring. "Come on! Fill the room with a golden light!! Chase away the darkness!!!"   
  
And the ring responded.  
  
******  
Akei felt the pain around him lessen, though he couldn't awaken...  
  
But the power around him, it wasn't the darkness entangling him anymore. There was light...a lot of it too. How he wished to see what was going on, but he couldn't....the only thing he could realize was that he was fully back in his body on the steps of Cairo, unconsciousness now taken over of his mind as well.  
  
******  
Bakura separated from his yami and immediately sat by him, grabbing his dark half's shoulders and shaking him to wake up. "Come on Yami! Please you have to wake up! Yami, brother, whatever you want to be called please WAKE UP!"  
  
******  
  
  
Squee! That was long! Twelve pages, Microsoft Works...man....first Akei nearly gets killed and now he's unconscious?! How fun to be him. And Bakura is getting more involved with the ring, if it can erase minds...why can't it burst out of light? Eh...whatever. Aha! Return of those beloved words "faiteir nasai" ain't they everyone's best friends?  
  
Akei: WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!  
  
Bakura: You nearly killed us with your "friends"!  
  
Oh pipe down you two! So hard to handle...not sure when I'll get the next chapter out, reviews can help inspiration too ya know...heh heh.....Please live with errors, I just skimmed through...I really just wanted to get this posted up....... (Ok so I only looked over the first five pages). One last thing, you may notice the summary changed.... 


	9. Tombs of Fate, or Tombs of Fear?

::Evil smirk.:: I have gotten a brainstorm! A good one too.....This story will be longer then I thought.... ::Laughs out evilly for about ten minutes when throat goes dry.:: Ack. *sigh* Now if only to get to the part where my "master brainstorm" kicks into play...one or two chapters...hopefully....  
  
~Akei to Kuthos~  
*Kuthos to Akei*  
Other mental connections remain, you'll understand this one at the end of the chapter.  
  
******  
Akei groaned and rolled over.   
  
{Yami! Oh thank god you're alive!}  
  
Another groan came from Akei and he rolled onto his stomach, placing arms over his head. Bakura stood and stared down blankly at his yami and looked over to the other three...all seemed clueless for the time being. Bakura sighed and continued on with the mental connection. {Wake up Yami!}  
  
[.....Five more minutes........]  
  
{Eh....Yami...?}  
  
[....Go away.....] Came a groggily responds. Bakura just blinked, his yami was acting almost like an unwilling child not wanting to wake up. "Yami come on....."   
  
"What's going on Bakura..?" The silver haired looked back at Yugi and sighed.  
  
"He refuses to move."  
  
Yami smirked and walked over to kneel by Akei, leaning over slightly so he could whisper in his ear. He spoke out softly in his native tongue and Akei stirred, rolling over his back and flashing a tired glare at Yami, only whispering back with his source of energy. "You bastard..." Again, the former pharaoh smirked and stood back to walk between Yugi and Kaiba.  
  
"Yami (Yugi) that was mean!" Bakura shot a look to Yugi's yami accusingly.  
  
"You understood that...?"  
  
"Sort of.."  
  
Yami turned his head away as if he did nothing.  
  
/What did you say..?/  
  
//Nothing aibou.//  
  
"Bakura what did he say?"  
  
//Aibou!// Yami's eyes widened as he looked to Yugi who after not getting an answer from his dark, went to the next best thing. His ruby eyes fell back to Bakura, worry shrouding them. He did NOT want Yugi to know what was said to Akei in Egyptian...but his worries dropped from Bakura's responds.  
  
"Eh...nothing Yugi...it's not important...."  
  
"Come on it can't be that bad!"  
  
Everyone but Kaiba (who didn't know Egyptian either) stared at Yugi with weary looks. The small boy sighed and at last gave up his begs.  
  
******  
The group hadn't moved much, everyone sitting in an even line on the steps. Bakura had been trying for over an hour to get the ring to lock on the trace of where his father had died, even Akei tried to assist with it. A hopeless waste of time.  
  
Kaiba, was getting restless, Yugi was getting hot and ended up disappearing into his soul room and Yami was trying to run what was going on through his mind.  
  
"Alright!" Everyone, including Akei looked to Bakura who stood up from his position. He pointed his arm out to an area of the desert. "We go that way!"  
  
The remaining people sitting stood as well and Yami blinked. "How did you find out...?"  
  
"Erm..."  
  
The former Pharaoh's face faltered dramatically. "You're guessing...aren't you...?"  
  
"Something like that....But we can't just w-"  
  
Something seemed to snap in Akei's head and he whirled to face the opposite direction his light was pointing. "It's that way."   
  
"Again I repeat myself: how did you find out?"  
  
"I can sense it." His eyes narrowed slightly, yet no one noticed before they returned to his normal sharp look. Kaiba sighed behind them and headed in the spoken direction, Bakura blinking before following, leaving the two yamis to walk in the back. Yugi emerged from his soul room an ran to walk besides Bakura. The two dark halves did follow after them, but slower...Akei seemed to have something on his mind and Yami intended on finding out.  
  
"What's on your mind...?"  
  
"What are you talking about...."  
  
Yami half sneered. "I know something is bothering you."  
  
Akei sighed, giving easily in defeat. He had to say what happened in his soul room, though it was hard. His eyes closed a moment and reopened, staring ahead of him as he explained. "While I was held by the darkness in my soul room, I had a few flashbacks of things..."  
  
"Such as..?"  
  
The yami cringed and whispered. "Being sealed in the ring, the Shadow Realm, Dansei, more of the Shadow Realm and a few others...." The voice raised to speak normally. "But I used enough of my remaining energy to stop and play a memory of my past life through my mind."  
  
"Why do I get the feeling it's bad...?" Akei didn't answer and Yami just stared at him a moment before growing stern. "Tell me what you saw."  
  
"I....was in an alley with someone else, I'm not sure who...we were both dressed in robes and the other's voice couldn't recognize...But anyway, I gather there was a tomb I was preparing for.....and the person was supposed to give me information...instead he told me not to go, that even the most skilled have refrained from entering...."  
  
"...Why..?" Yami was getting fearful now, could he be speaking of the tomb they were heading for...?  
  
Akei seemed to have a hard time relaying this. The group of five had left the city, trudging into the desert sand. Yugi sensed Yami's worry and asked him what was wrong, but the former Pharaoh simply said nothing and to stay walking with Kaiba...Akei said the same to his aibou. Taking in a breath, Akei continued. "He talked about how the darkness within the tomb is worse then that of the Shadow Realm, and creatures inhabited it that were neither feline or canine." He paused, finally turning his gaze on Yami, eyes filled...with fear. "Yami...he was referring to the Saber Fangs..." He had never been so shaken in his life, the tomb-robber's whole body was trembling, Yami could see it and he was clueless on what to do. The two had stopped walking, facing each other fully and telling their counterparts that they'd catch up. But even when noticing his own fear, Akei continued to speak of his flashback. "Yami, they are after Bakura because his father was the first one to near the tomb, break the seal, awaken the curse! The man said that the first one to encounter that spell will be killed, all other family members included with go afterwards, once they're down...everyone else will perish as well. That's why Bakura is being hunted, as am I because the ring bonds both of us like family!"  
  
"Akei...calm down......"  
  
"How the hell do you expect me to calm down?!" He snapped back.  
  
"Go to your soul room."  
  
This caught Akei off guard. "What...?"  
  
"I said go to your soul room."  
  
"What, are you trying to be my mother?!"  
  
Yami glared darkly at the one before him and grasped his shoulders adding pressure into them causing Akei to flinch and nearly sink to his knees if the pharaoh weren't holding him up. Through gritted teeth Yami hissed harshly at the tomb-robber, who was shaken with fear of this tomb before but with the way Yami had him positioned...he wasn't holding up too swift. "Go to your soul room you damn BASTARD!" He dropped Akei to his knees as the silver-haired stared with an empty glance. Though Bakura was a semi distance away, the replica of the Millennium Ring glowed and excepted him into his soul room.  
  
Yami turned to stare in the direction his aibou and the other two went and sighed, muttering to himself. "I'm sorry Akei, but you had to get to your soul room. You are a prime target, we know that now and you must be watching over Bakura. I know you're shaken about going here........but I had to yell, even if it broke down the last defense blocking fear that you had."   
  
******  
/Yami, Bakura said his yami returned to his soul room....where are you?/  
  
//I'm coming, I'm coming aibou..// Responded the darkness with a huff, he was running through the desert sands, seeing a now short distance image that looked like ants, but it was the group he was searching for. //Aibou will you all please stop walking..//  
  
Yugi chuckled. /Sure thing./  
  
******  
Yami at last caught up to the group and saw ahead of him the area of the dig, still about twenty yards away. Kaiba looked over at the Pharaoh curiously. "So what are we actually doing....?"  
  
Yami just stared back. "I said last night that we were going to _find_ the tomb and make sure it was the right one. I never said I had a plan."  
  
Bakura blinked, "You're kidding...?"  
  
"No...no I'm not. But we still have to see if it even is the right tomb, come on."  
  
******  
Now only a foot or two away lay a doorway to an underground tomb, piles of desert sand pushed away from it. The workers had uncovered it at least, too bad they never had though...would of been less trouble. Bakura, Kaiba, and Yugi all looked at Yami for an answer, the former Pharaoh sighed and spoke up. "Yeah...this is it...but we have to figure out what to d-" Yami blinked and stopped as he looked over at an added body, Akei had left his soul room, rubbing his head with one hand. 'Damn I thought he would stay in his soul room...'  
  
"Yami...are you ok..?" Bakura looked to his dark side, who seemed to have a severe headache. Akei looked ready to answer, but then broke into a run through the darkness of the tomb.  
  
"AKEI!" Yami shouted after him then cursed loudly and headed after him until he was grabbed back by Seto. "Kaiba let me go NOW!"  
  
"Don't you think we need a plan to go in there?!"  
  
"Something's wrong..."  
  
Everyone looked to Bakura who seemed to have a more pale face then normal.  
  
"What is it, Bakura?" Yugi tilted his head at his friend.  
  
"My yami won't respond to the mental link...yeah that's happened before but it doesn't feel like he's even...I don't know...conscious."  
  
Yami narrowed a glare in Kaiba's direction who sighed and released his arm. "We have to enter the tomb, something bad is going to happen either way." His glance shifted to Yugi and the shorter boy seemed to understand, disappearing into his soul room. With only three left outside now, each followed one behind the other (Yami in the lead, Seto in the back, Bakura in the middle) after Akei.  
  
******  
"Ugh...what happened...?" Akei blinked and found himself in a room, head still pulsing with pain. The room was dark, and yet he could see in it....it was almost like a black mist. The tomb-robber had been sitting on the floor, just realized his wrists were chained to the wall behind him. He pulled at the shackles but it made no prevail to break him loose. "Great, just great....the last thing I remember was running into the tomb...almost like being lured into it..."  
  
[Aibou..?]  
  
"Don't bother with using your mental link. No one can hear you."  
  
"Who's there?! Who are you?!" That's when he noticed a pair of eyes staring at him, the black mist in the room swirling away from one area to reveal a Saber Fang, tail lashing against the ground.   
  
"I could kill you now..." It's voice half hissed, half growled. "But that would be no fun, I wouldn't be able to play with your friends' minds..."  
  
"What are you talking about?!" He snapped out as the creature pawed towards him.  
  
"You'll see. Don't worry, I'll keep your body alive....or should I say, my body..." The Saber Fang smirked, rising to sit on its haunches mere inches from the yami. "My name is Kuthos, and I repeat that you shouldn't bother connecting to your other half, it won't matter soon enough. You're link will be transferred to me.." Again it smirked, a dark aura forming over it's body.   
  
Akei twitched and pushed himself against the wall in fear as the Saber Fang's devilish tongue rolled over its teeth and loosely hung and its body...vanished. But the yami soon found out that it had only left the room, to be transferred into his own body. Akei felt himself be thrown aback from his own body, locked in his mind within a soul room that was not of Bakura's or any one else's. But what was even more fearful, was this "Kuthos" had full control of Akei's body. With Kuthos in control, new strength ran through Akei's body and he stood up, ripping his wrists free of the shackles holding him.   
  
~Give me my body back!~  
  
*And have my fun spoiled? I think not. I thank you for being the weak soul that was easy to lure in this tomb, your body is very fitting. Now if you don't mind shutting your mouth, I have to pay your friends a visit...*  
  
******  
  
  
::Evil smirk.:: Kuthos is mean isn't he? Why does he want Akei's body?! WHY?!  
  
Akei: Because you made him..  
  
Oh right... ::Shakes head then looks to Yami and Akei in the story and shakes her head again.::   
  
Next chapter hopefully will be up soon, school starts Wednesday. 9th grade so maybe slower... 


	10. Mind Manipulation

Hum de do....I'm done tormenting people, I was going to post this tomorrow but I changed my mind. Maybe I should have read this over? Oh well, you get it so don't complain XD   
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh but I do own: the name Akei, the Saber Fangs, the three Shinsei sisters (Ayane, Tayla, and Rekanna), annnndddddd Kuthos.  
  
******  
/Yami...I really don't like this..../  
  
//Neither do I aibou....//  
  
Bakura stopped walking, causing Kaiba to stop as well and soon Yami to turn around and face them. "What's wrong, Bakura?"  
  
The boy sighed and leaned against a stone type wall, staring at the ground. The look in his eyes showed failure and uncertainty. Seto followed suit and leaned against the opposing wall. They had been in a very narrow hallway of some sort, and Yami was beginning to doubt if this were a tomb or some underground palace ((Thingy whatever)).  
  
"Bakura, we'll find your yami I pr-"  
  
Yami spun around to a figure and a voice.  
  
******  
~Dammit you give me back control!~ Akei hissed from this new soul room, he tried everything to get his body back, but Kuthos was too strong and kept hold of it.  
  
*You are amusing when angry.* The voice mocked back.   
  
Akei kicked the floor and rolled his fingers into fists as he gazed from the eyes of himself...Kuthos. Both, whatever, he was confused. ((I'm confused too.))  
  
*Oh look, there are your friends up ahead now..*  
  
The yami blinked when he caught sight of his light's despair and felt anger rise.   
  
*You'll see.*  
  
******  
"Akei!" Yami raised his voice, causing Bakura and Kaiba to look over at "Akei" who had ran up to them. "Why the heck did you run in here?!"  
  
"I....sorry, I felt pulled in and couldn't break from it....." He sighed and looked over at the odd look etched over Bakura's face.  
  
'My yami hardly ever says sorry....' Bakura shook his head of the thoughts and smiled. "I was worried about you.."  
  
*Idiotic runt..*  
  
~Stay away from him!~  
  
*Hm, hm..*  
  
Akei grunted.  
  
"I did, get to find something useful though. I think we can stop the darkness from taking over Cairo." Yami raised a brow of curiosity at this, while Kuthos searched Akei's mind for what has happened lately to them. Most of it relating the Saber Fangs he knew though, after all....he was one of the sources sending out commands. "There's a room up ahead, I was just there, it had a few spell books and I was able to open one that seemed to have a spell we can use....but we have to hurry!" He turned and looked over his shoulder, Kaiba brushed past Yami and followed after as Akei/Kuthos lead the way.  
  
Yami was about to go after them when Bakura walked up besides him. "Yami..."  
  
"What is it Bakura?"  
  
Bakura looked at the ground, then up to where Akei and Kaiba were walking off to and then back to Yami before whispering out. "I still can't contact Akei over our mental link..."  
  
Yami blinked in surprise. "But he's with us...maybe he's blocking you out for some reason. He seemed...paranoid...earlier about coming here and maybe he just doesn't want you to sense it."  
  
Bakura nodded. "Yeah, probably..." Yami gave the boy a slight push and they were off.  
  
******  
Akei/Kuthos took a turn and headed down another, wider hall. He stared at a wall and if his hair had not blocked view of his eyes, the others could see a flash of red flicker through them and vanished.   
  
"Are we almost there?" Seto asked in an agitated voice.  
  
Kuthos smirked then turned around, and waited a moment while he listened for a noise. Upon hearing a sense of movement nearby, he answered. "Yes, it's just a few steps fur-" He was cut off (intentionally he allowed to be) by a snarl and forced his face to twist. "Damn! It's a Saber Fang!"  
  
Kaiba spun around and pulled a card from his deck of his duel disc. Yami was about to do the same when he realized his disc was gone, but his deck was in his pocket. "What the...?"  
  
"Glad I brought this card..." Seto murmured and placed a card on the recognizer and spun the disc out before him. "Flame Cerebrus!" The image flickered to activate, streams of shimmering white light forming the three headed pyro creature. The Saber Fang backed up slightly and hissed ((remember its part wolf and feline- Saber tooth cat kinda thing)), saliva dripping to the ground. While Seto and Yami attempted facing off the creature, Akei/Kuthos grabbed Bakura and dragged him into an empty room.  
  
"Yami! What are we supposed to do?! We have to help them!"  
  
"No, you have to shut up." Came a harsh responds.  
  
"Yami....?"  
  
The figure smirked and Bakura backed up into a wall. Kuthos mentally smiled darkly to himself, knowing what he'd speak out would not only hurt Bakura, but the one locked back in his own mind as well. "Faiteir....nasai." Indeed, this was a spell....one that Akei was beginning to understand was used amongst the Saber Fangs. Bakura collapsed to his knees, a sound ripping through his inner mind as he gripped his head and looked up at his yami weakly.   
  
"Why...?"  
  
~Stop it!!~   
  
*Shut up you.* He hissed back and spoke the two words again, feeling Akei fall back as well, clutching his stomach.   
  
"Yami please! STOP!!"  
  
******  
Yami looked away from the battling creatures, watching blood breaking from the skins of both. He had heard Bakura scream and followed the voice, entering the doorway to see Akei/Kuthos laughing as Bakura felt tears running down his pale face.  
  
"Akei, what are you doing?! Stop you're hurting him!"  
  
'I would love to stop, Yami.......' Akei thought as he stood up again, a glare etched over his face. 'I just need two seconds...' The tomb-robber took in a breath and concentrated on Bakura's ring, outside the hikari stared as it faintly glowed...but Yami's eyes remained fixated on Akei.   
  
The former Pharaoh ran over to him, grabbing his shoulders and forcing him to stare at his ruby eyes. "What the hell is the matter with you?!"  
  
'Here goes nothing...' Akei sent a surge through Kuthos's and his own body, Yami could see the glow illuminate from him but didn't move away.  
  
*What are you doing?!* Kuthos gasped and pulled back, allowing Akei to weakly take control of his own body. Yami saw the figure he held by the shoulders stumble a bit and look at him with pain filled eyes. "Yami! I can't keep control for long! Something...one of the Saber Fangs, called Kuthos has taken over my body! Get Bakura out of here! I can't keep hold anymore I-" Kuthos took control again and sneered, shoving Yami to the ground.   
  
"He's more of a bother then I thought he would be..." He shook his head and Yami started getting up only to be pushed over again to the ground. "As that pest has told you, I am Kuthos...a name you should be sure to remember. Pharaoh, your city will fall and it's too late for you to do a thing." He laughed out. Bakura looked up to see Seto run into the doorway, his arm stripped of his duel disk.  
  
"Yami! The other Saber Fang is....is coming!" He gasped, falling to the ground and setting a hand on the "frame" of the doorway, blood trickling down from his wrist.   
  
"Great Kaiba....just great..."  
  
"It's not MY fault! That stupid thing locked its jaws on the disc and pulled it off!"  
  
Kuthos sneered and looked to Kaiba. "I wouldn't call it stupid, considering I could of allowed him to _kill_ you, but I let you lived."   
  
"Akei? What the heck are you talking about..?!"  
  
"Kaiba, that's not Akei, I mean it's his body but one of the Saber Fangs is in control.." Yami breathed out, giving up trying to stand because each attempt has failed.  
  
/Yami, what are we supposed to do....?/  
  
//I really don't know at the moment, aibou..//  
  
Kuthos laughed out and his eyes flickered red again. Bakura watched as Kaiba was thrown into the room and fell besides him. He was a blockage to the doorway, with him gone three Saber Fangs piled in...each with the look of blood-thirst etched in their hues. He raised out an arm as a silent command, each of the three creatures moving the pads of their front paws and holding down Kaiba, Bakura, and Yami...claws included.   
  
Yami clenched his eyes shut as he felt the razor like claws bury through his jacket and into his flesh, the same with the other two.  
  
"Good, good. Any last words to failing your city, Pharaoh?" Kuthos mocked and chortled at Yami's silent cries of pain.   
  
~What do you plan to do?!~  
  
*Complete the spell of darkness. Now, silence!* Akei felt an impulse over take his body and he immediately dropped unconscious. With arms raised out, Kuthos closed his eyes and began chanting, a dark aura pulling its way around every figure in the room.  
  
Yami felt his eyes roll in the back of his head and he dropped flat to the ground.  
  
/Yami! Yami what's going on! Yami wake UP!/  
  
...............  
  
Bakura's face looked unstable, the language of the chants he couldn't understand, all he knew is that it related with darkness. 'This.....is very bad.....' Was his last thought before collapsing much like Yami did. Seto was long out of it himself.  
  
A ray of streaming glows formed around Kuthos, resembling that of Kaiba's dueling system, his voice ranged the air with mad laughter and the three Saber Fangs smirked as a dark mist formed within the room and exited the doorway, leaving the tomb to the city.  
  
Darkness was brought upon Cairo.  
  
Like a never-ending plague of night.  
  
But night, was brighter, then the feeling of this.  
  
The Shadow Realm, made what was brought upon the city, look better.  
  
And no one, could outrun this.  
  
******  
Yugi awoke, separated somehow from Yami who was drifting in and out pf consciousness. Bakura and Kaiba followed suits, Kaiba being the first to realize where they were. "How'd we get back in the streets of the city...?"  
  
"Is it night..?" Yugi chirped in, shaking his Yami fully awake.  
  
"Akei is still gone..." Bakura sulked and everyone silenced themselves by the expression Yami held on the sky. Pure terror.   
  
******  
Back in the palace, two doors glowed and creaked open.  
  
"How'd that happen...? No one is out there....." A feminine voice called out, only to be shoved out of the doors by two others. "W-what...?" She blinked forest green eyes and looked back to the two in the room.  
  
"Ayane, could the spell really be broken?"  
  
"I guess it can be, Tayla..." Ayane, oldest of the Shinsei sisters stepped towards a window and stared out, voice dropped to nothing as she heard her sisters run over to it as well, gasping. Rekanna pulled backwards, almost falling over.  
  
"Oh Ra.....no....."  
  
******  
  
  
What's got everyone so afraid? What happened to Kuthos and Akei? What happened PERIOD?! Heh, heh....And why was that so short.....? Er sorry about that, I meant to make this chapter longer AND have the ending be for next chapter...but that wouldn't of worked...until next time, my loyal fans! Abiz! 


	11. A New Shadow Realm

I made JV Volleyball for my school ^^ So happy, everyone cheer! Or not. But with practice and homework that's less time to type....Eh...oh well, here ya go!  
  
So what's everyone truly afraid of...? Find out!  
  
******  
Rekanna felt her eyes sting with tears as she stood behind her too equally shocked sisters. "How could this of happened?! How?!"  
  
"I....don't know...." Tayla whispered, reaching her hand on the edge of the window to hold herself up.  
  
Ayane was afraid of what they saw, but what was also on her mind is how they could be released from their sealed room.  
  
******  
"Y-Yami....what.....happened....?" Yugi asked softly, voice shaking.  
  
"T-the spell.....Kuthos completed....the s-spell....."  
  
Kaiba blinked over at Yami as best he could, never hearing the Pharaoh stutter before. "What are you talking about...?"  
  
"What the Shinsei sisters warned us about...darkness engulfing Cairo......"  
  
"So what do we do...?" Bakura looked over at Yami who was pulled from sight. "Yami?!"  
  
"Who's there?!" Kaiba hissed out, looking for where the former-Pharaoh could have gone to.  
  
******  
"Let me go! Who are you?!" Yami hissed, being dragged by two figures into the palace. As much as he tried to break free, the grips were too strong. His eyes shifted to both sides, recognizing his captors too well. Both were Duel Monsters. Gripping his left arm was the Witty Phantom and his right was the warrior Hibikime, able to hold her scythe in one hand and his arm in the other. But there was one more presence, the Battle Steer behind him, shoving him forward with his silver pitch fork. Yami grunted at this treatment and tried pulling away again as the four entered through the main doors and headed towards the throne room. Yami was released from the ones holding his arms, but he felt the Battle Steer fist the back of his knees so he fell to the ground on them, grunting again as he was held into place. Head was forced up, looking at the thrown before him to meet a dark gaze. "Kuthos!"  
  
"My, my, what a rude temper you have. You once ruled this city, Cairo now, Thebes in your time. Our time. But now...I am the ruler...I am Pharaoh." He laughed out and flicked his wrist up, snapping his fingers in the process. On both sides of the thrown, two Saber Fangs simply appeared in a swirl of black, both snarling at Yami.   
  
"What have you done?! What kind of spell is this?!"  
  
"A curse, a spell, a plague. All the same for all I care." He stood up, throwing his arms out as if it were a welcoming. "Welcome to the new, improved, Shadow Realm!"  
  
"This is the Shadow Realm...?" Yami managed to breath out.  
  
"Well...no...let's just say with the dark powers that still lingered here, my spell, and the awakened tomb...I was able to let darkness rain free....able to create a new realm within only this city, a realm under my complete control."  
  
"So we kill you, and everything is fine."  
  
"No, no...doesn't work that way, my true form will just possess someone else. And besides, you wouldn't want to kill me."  
  
"And why not?!" Yami hissed out.  
  
Kuthos moved both arms to point to himself. "Don't you remember the body I possess? You kill me, you kill this weak tomb-robber as well." He smirked as Yami's face grew still.   
  
~He'll kill me, if it mean saving the city and killing you!~  
  
*My dear friend, he kills this body...not me.*  
  
Akei cringed.  
  
//Aib-// His mental connection was cut short and Kuthos chuckled again.   
  
"I have rendered your mental link useless."  
  
"Kuthos...you will never win this.."  
  
"Do not address me by that!" He hissed out, raising a foot and kicking him hard across the face. If the Battle Steer hadn't been holding him in place, Yami would have fallen backwards. He tasted the blood in his mouth and spat it out, glaring up at Kuthos who scoffed back. "You will address me by Pharaoh." His gaze shifted to the Witty Phantom and Hibikime. "Away with you both, I have no more need of you." Both monsters nodded and turned to leave into the darkness.   
  
******  
"I hear voices!" Tayla spoke out softly. The three sisters had been wondering through the palace until lastly they came to the throne room. Staying out of sight in a mini crevice in a wall, they all watched the scene when Yami was hit across the face. "Look, it's Yami!"  
  
"Hush, Tayla!"  
  
"And look, it's that tomb-robber, see, he's trouble! We should have killed him!" Rekanna spat and looked to Ayane.  
  
"No. The Pharaoh had too much faith in him to that tomb-robber to turn on him like this. Look at his face, it seems so twisted and dark....somehow I don't think that's who we met back in the sealed room."  
  
******  
"Now to rid you of this world!" He reached out a hand and signaled something that seemed telepathically to the Battle Steer, who obediently handed over its pitch fork. Kuthos smirked and figured the weapon, staring down at Yami who was held down by the Duel Monster.   
  
'Oh great...I have to get control now....damn but I need the power of a Millennium Item! And I can't tap into Yami's...' Akei cursed from the soul room and tried to focus on some other power but it wasn't working.   
  
Yami glanced up at Kuthos and saw something in his eyes. 'Akei is trying to get control....last time he used Bakura's ring....' He paused in thought and squinted his eyes closed, his Millennium Puzzle beginning to flicker gold as if someone turned a light switch on for it. His third eye reacted and his jacket flared behind him, eyes hollowing out as he glared at a surprised Kuthos.  
  
Kuthos grinned and raised his weapon above Yami. "Your magic will do nothing to stop me."  
  
"You're right about that," Yami smirked.  
  
Kuthos snarled and glared over at the Battle Steer. "Away with you!" The Duel Monster complied and vanished into darkness, not realizing that it was Akei's command he was listening to. *Stay back! You will never get control!*  
  
~Oh really...?~ Akei smirked and took in the power that illuminated from Yami, using it combined with his own to knock Kuthos down from control. Now with Akei controlling his own body again, he dropped the weapon weakly and toppled down to his knees, holding his head painfully.   
  
Yami's power leveled off to normal, the puzzle resting still in his rightful placed as he stared at Akei. "Did it work..?" The former Pharaoh stood and looked down at him.  
  
"Yeah...thanks..." Akei groaned, attempting to stand and as he fell again, Yami pulled him up and helped him out of the room.  
  
"Pharaoh Yami!"  
  
Yami and Akei turned heads to look at three female figures curiously. Akei would have said something, if his voice was willing...no such luck. "How did you three get out? I thought you were sealed in that room....?"  
  
"So did we..." Ayane muttered. "We heard what that guy...uh...him..." She pointed to Akei who was half slumped over Yami's shoulder. "Um...you aren't the same person that was talking ready to kill Yami were you...?" Her own question confused her.  
  
Yami shook his head. "Akei is being possessed by Kuthos, one of the Saber Fangs." They stared blankly at him from saying the 'Saber Fangs' and he sighed. "He's possessed by a creature."  
  
Akei groaned, his body worn for some reason. "He's not even conscious..."  
  
"Don't talk, you'll only get weaker."  
  
Akei seemed to slump towards the ground now and Yami had to pull at one of his arms over his shoulder to keep him up. "Come on you three, we have to find our friends."  
  
******  
"We can't just sit here..." Yugi muttered, the three still standing where they started out. A dark mist layered the ground about a foot and a half off of it, making it near impossible to see their feet. Yugi spun himself to look at the palace, a dreary looking place. "Wait a second..." He paused, violet eyes refocusing on the steps. "It's Yami! And..."  
  
/Yami...?/  
  
Everyone remained silent as Yami (with Akei hardly awake hanging off him) and the Shinsei sisters approached them.  
  
//Oh...guess I can use the link again.//  
  
/Huh?/  
  
//Never mind, aibou.//  
  
Yugi signaled his gaze to Akei. /Why did you bring him...?/  
  
Yami glanced around at everyone's worried gaze and sighed. "Kuthos is unconscious, for now. So Akei has control, for awhile I hope." A sign of relief stretched over Bakura's face.  
  
"Is he going to be ok..?"  
  
"I...don't know Bakura, he seems mostly out of it...drained of power at the least."  
  
Kaiba lifted a hand and pointed at the three females. "And what about all of you..?"  
  
Tayla shrugged. "Don't ask us how we got out, we have no idea."   
  
Seto sighed at his given responds and folded his arms to look at Yami. "So now what do we do...?" Yami stared blankly back, still supporting Akei up. In all honesty, he explained he had no idea what to do, they needed to kill Kuthos but they needed to kill his true form...and to get to his true form required Akei to be killed...  
  
"Use me.." On cue, Akei spoke up almost in a dead sounding voice. Yami shook his head.  
  
"No."  
  
"Yes dammit! The only way Kuthos will leave my body is if it's dead!" He started up before pulling away from Yami and toppling to the ground coughing.   
  
Bakura looked intently at his yami, surprised of the words that came from his mouth. "Yami....we can't kill you......I won't let anyone who tries either...."  
  
Ayane lifted her head. 'Man, for a tomb-robber he sure has a lot of people wanting him alive...' She sighed out and stepped forward. "We could always perform an exorcism spell on him, separating both forms..." Yami glanced at her.  
  
"That would work. If this was 5,000 years ago I think I could perform it off the top of my head. But it's not...do either of you three know it..?"   
  
Tayla peered over at Rekanna who shook her head and they both glanced to Ayane.   
  
"No....we don't....but there must be a spell book somewhere.."  
  
"Just kill me...it would go easier..." Akei smirked, but his hair hid it as he hung his head. Kaiba backed away from the group slightly, fumbling in his pocket for something before pulling it out and clasping it behind his back.  
  
"I said no already!" Yami spat down at him, the tomb-robber hardly flinched.   
  
"Like I care what you freaking say!!" His voice hissed, but he still didn't lift his head any more.   
  
Kaiba was a now beginning to fidget. "Yami..."  
  
Yami glanced up at Seto for a moment who had a worried glance at Akei etched over his face and the former Pharaoh glanced down, backing up slightly and standing before Yugi. Bakura blinked at everyone and wondered what was going on, looking back to his dark side. "What's up guys...?"   
  
Akei lifted his head at last, a snickering look on his face and eyes momentarily flickered a blood red. That's about when the group realized that five Saber Fangs had been summoned, surrounding everyone (including Akei) in a ring shape form. Akei began to laugh out as he stood, half stumbling by the weakened form of his body. Kaiba cursed out and looked around. "Damn...I knew it.."  
  
"And you didn't tell us?!" Yami snapped out, guarding over Yugi protectively.  
  
"Yami....what's he talking about...?"  
  
"Kuthos is awake, aibou."  
  
"So that means....Akei isn't in control anymore...?"  
  
"Nope.....go to your soul room, aibou, it will be safer..."  
  
"Ok..." Yugi reluctantly did as his dark spoke of, giving one last glance to the now Kuthos. ((I really need to get Yugi a role -.-))  
  
Kuthos smirked darkly. "You don't seem very happy to see me again, why is that?" His voice rang out with a cackling sound, eyes flickering to look from the group to the creatures looking for a feast. "My dear brothers, I believe now is a good time for you to eat, the boy of his father's blood first!"  
  
At this command, the jaws snapped open around the ring of creatures, pulling in to trap the group from moving. So they thought they were basically doomed now, that is until a voice rang loudly through the silenced air. Kaiba's. "Blue-Eyes! Attack!"   
  
Yami turned his head to see Kaiba and a glowering card behind him, activating from its master's will to shift and shape into a being, the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It reared its mighty head towards two Saber Fangs readying to attack Bakura and they backed off with the whimper, looking to their own master (Kuthos) for an order.  
  
"I don't think I've ever been so happy to see the Blue-Eyes..." Yami muttered, staring up at the massive beast and planning an escape within his mind. Plotting it out, Yugi gave him an approval on it and he himself pulled out a dragon card, the Curse of Dragon. Without speaking any words, he tossed the card into the air and immediately saw the yellow and red creature heat into the skies with a beat of its wings. "Everyone, come on!"  
  
"But-"  
  
"Bakura, come on! I promise we'll help your yami but not now!" Yami reached out and grabbed the albino boy's hair, sending a silent command through his eyes to the dragon who lowered its tail for everyone to climb upon its back.   
  
"Don't let them get away!!" Kuthos hissed out loudly to his minions. Kaiba himself had gotten upon the head of his own dragon, grabbing Rekanna up as well. Ayane, Yami, and Bakura all on the Curse of Dragon (Yami standing calmly on the head of it), and Tayla was about to board on, but a Saber Fang pulled her back.  
  
"Tayla!" Ayane yelled out to her sister as the mentioned Shinsei was held to the ground. "We have to do something!" Voice shifting to Yami, the Pharaoh raised a hand and pointed at one of the Saber Fangs.   
  
"Fireball attack!"  
  
/Yami! It's not going to work!/  
  
//What...?// Yami blinked at his aibou's words, watching the fire attack be deflected. //How did...you know...?//  
  
/I-I don't know...the area down there looks distorted, like a barrier almost.../  
  
Yami gulped and his calm face was drastically changing.  
  
"You know you can't attack! Say goodbye to her!" Kuthos laughed out, watching his five hounds pile on Tayla and tearing through her very flesh, the last thing heard was a faint scream of death.  
  
"No!!" Rekanna shouted, about to jump off the Blue-Eyes until Seto grabbed her back. She struggled against his grip, but he was too strong for her. "Let me go!!"  
  
"No! You're just going to get killed yourself!" ((Aww he cares..))  
  
"I can't just leave her there!"  
  
"Blue-Eyes! Fly into the desert!" The dragon uplifted its head and stretched wings out fully, pushing into the ground and then gathering power to launch itself into the air.   
  
Yami took one last look at the fallen body, the remains of it being fought over by its captors. He sighed sadly, shaking his head and looking to the silence of Ayane and Bakura before commanding his dragon to follow Kaiba's. It swiveled around, tail whipping out behind it and screeching loudly in the process.  
  
"They can't escape.." Kuthos chuckled, turning to walk back up the palace's steps, three of the beasts following after him, the other two finishing their meal.  
  
******  
"I see the desert! Well...sort of..." Kaiba yelled back to Yami. They were edging the end of the city, they had to get away and plan...  
  
The Curse of Dragon took lead ahead of the Blue-Eyes, Kaiba grunted at this but snapped back to attention when the air seemed to stir around them. "Yami stop!"  
  
Yami whirled his head to look at Kaiba with a quizzing gaze before feeling a shock of pain charge through the dragon and to the bodies aboard it. The fire dragon pulled back away, its skin burning from the dark energy. Yami cringed as he could feel the dragon weakening and looked along its back where Bakura and Ayane were trying to hold together from the shock of pain. Pain change to fear, the Curse of Dragon pulled backwards lurching up before loosing whatever consciousness it had and spindling down from the air, passengers clutching for dear life.....   
  
******  
  
  
That was going to be longer. I swear it was, but I wanted it up tonight and that required it being shorter. And just to be mean, I'm going to wait for 5 reviews before posted another chapter....HOPING I type the next one soon. Either chapters will be coming out slower, or will be half the length of this, depends on school and volleyball, sorry. And I didn't edit this one so don't flame about errors o.O;;  
  
For confused people:  
-Akei is now locked back in the soul room thingy and Kuthos has obtained control again  
-Kuthos IS a Saber Fang that has an ability to possess other beings.  
-If you could tell, the group is unable to leave the city...having what happened to the Curse of Dragon occur.  
-Tayla Shinsei is DEAD. She was eaten alive by the five Saber Fangs  
  
That help anyone? I hope so ^^ Later till next time! Remember to review, onegai! 


	12. Tumble & Fall

Meep! So...this didn't come out quite when I wanted it to, but at least I got the chapter done! Eheh....  
  
Oh, and I may toward the end of this chapter refer to Bakura as Ryou, but Yami Bakura will remain Akei because he received that name in the story before this. What do you call it? Prequel? I donno....whatever...  
  
Grrrr.....second time I re-uploaded this! For now one this is the mental link for Kuthos and Akei:  
*Kuthos to Akei*  
~Akei to Kuthos~  
******  
/Yami!?!/  
  
The dragon spun and fell all at once, everyone trying to hold on best they could, and Yami trying to wake the unconscious being. Unsuccessful. Kaiba stared blankly from the head of his Blue-Eyes, not being considerate of helping. Rekanna thought differently.  
  
"Kaiba! HELP them!"  
  
"What...?" The brunette turned his head to see Rekanna supporting herself to stand of the dragon's back, she started at him hopefully and he found himself ultimately confused. It seemed the ground on Yami's creature were falling forever, further into the dark mist of the ground, but there wasn't much area in the city with just normal air. His gaze shifted between Rekanna and the distressful scene before shouting out loudly. "Blue-Eyes! Get to the Curse of Dragon in any way possible and stop it from falling!"  
  
The creature roared out viciously in responds.  
  
******  
"Now, isn't this entertaining?"  
  
A Saber Fang looked up from its seated position besides his master in the tomb-robber's body.  
  
"I knew they wouldn't escape. They cannot. It's...impossible...heh." Kuthos looked over at the loyal species, technically it was _his_ species. He was just more powerful then the others. "Oh look, isn't that sweet, the Blue-Eyes saved the other dragon and they were able to live. Sickening." He hissed out, arms folded over his chest as he turned his back to walk from the palace steps into the building itself, yelling back and order to the single Saber Fang. "Garou! Collect two of the others and get that other silver-haired! I want him alive. Rip him as much as you want, as long as he's alive."  
  
The mostly canine creature nodded, muzzle directing towards the far end of the city to where the duo group of dragons landed. Its head tilted up slightly to release a quick but graceful howl and darted down the steps. Once upon entering the streets, out of the mist came two others, heading towards the group, and most of all....Bakura.  
  
******  
~Don't you dare touch him!~  
  
*Well, well, look who's finally awake. You were a very bad boy taking control again, but I'll be sure it won't happen again.*  
  
~Take me instead of Bakura!~  
  
*Oh, that sounds like a really nice offer, maybe I can possess his body instead? Heh, I don't think so, tomb-robber.*  
  
~What are you going to do to him....?~  
  
*Me? I'm going to sit back in that lovely throne and watch my loyal creatures take him apart bite by bite. Just like what we did to his father.*  
  
******  
"Is....everyone...ok...?" Yami panted, sliding the card of Curse of Dragon into his pocket with the rest of his deck on the duel disc. ((I believe he still has it.))  
  
Ayane and Bakura nodded, Kaiba recalled his Blue-Eyes instinctively to a card and Rekanna stared around herself blankly. Something was off key, not right, indifferent, out of place. All of the above. And Bakura sensed it too, followed by Ayane, leaving Yami and Kaiba blank of the situation.  
  
"Yami, something's out there..." Bakura shakily spoke out.   
  
"How can you tell?"  
  
"I feel it....I don't know how...."  
  
"So do I," responded both Shinsei sisters at once.   
  
Before Yami could respond, he came face to muzzle with man's best friend. Or not. More like, Egyptian's worst nightmare. Kaiba was in the same situation. Rekanna and Ayane stayed close together, Bakura standing infront of them.   
  
"I told you something felt wrong...." Bakura whispered.  
  
/Use a card Yami, they can't possibly stand against them!/ Yami nodded to himself, agreeing to his light's plan. He took his deck from the duel system disc and placed it in his pocket, lingering it on the cards to be ready to pull one. He didn't need the disc honestly, if monster's could be summoned to true form, why bother with holograms? But nevertheless he would do his best not to lose it. Kaiba had his ripped from his arm, and Yami realized that Kuthos didn't have Akei's the last time they "met".   
  
The fang pulled claws into the sanded ground and moved in a slow approach towards Yami. The former Pharaoh pulled his card, not even needing to look at it to know what it was. "Dark Magic-" He felt Yugi's body lurch in fear and soon he realized why, just like Kaiba had his disc ripped from his arm, Yami felt the mini system crunch and collapse as many sets of cat like teeth ruptured into it. Yami cringed and moved backwards from the creature who released its jaws. His hand fumbled to pull the system from his arm, a tingling sensation left behind as if someone struck a charged needle into his wrist as hard as possible.   
  
/Yami? Are you ok????/  
  
//Hai aibou, I think so.....just can't feel my wrist....//  
  
/That's NOT being ok! Let me take over!/  
  
//No aibou! It's too dangerous!//  
  
/But Y-/  
  
//Aibou don't even bother.// Yami cut him off and then moved around his wrist. //See, I can move it.//  
  
Yugi sighed from his soul room.  
  
Kaiba unfortunately couldn't get to his deck either, he was on the ground with a Saber Fang atop him, jaws looking like they were to tear his face off.  
  
Yami ended in the same position.   
  
The only three still standing were the two sisters and Bakura, the sisters trying to remember any spell from their pasts. "Well....they aren't going after us......" Bakura murmured.  
  
"Use a card!" Ayane snapped out harshly and Bakura looking wearily at her.  
  
"But my yami has my deck...."  
  
"Damn..."  
  
Rekanna fisted her hands and walked over to the Saber Fang on Kaiba and kicked it. The creature didn't change position, making Rekanna even more pissed. Then something hit her, a thought, a memory. "Ayane! I remember one of the spells!"  
  
"What is it?!" The oldest yelled back, trying to get the other Saber Fang off Yami. Bakura was left clueless in the open.   
  
"The light spell! We can blind them!"   
  
Ayane nodded, thinking a moment before raising her hands to the sky, Rekanna doing the same, both in unison chanting out in Egyptian. As a light formed between their palms and slowly grew, neither noticed a third figure approaching behind Bakura. Garou.  
  
The fiend lunged right when the light blinded its two "teammates" and he sank his jaws into Bakura's sweater, dragging him by it in a fast pace.  
  
******  
The light had one final holy outburst, chasing away the two being and allowing Seto and Yami to stand up. Before Yami could protest, Yugi was out of his soul room standing around with frantic eyes and arms flailing, voice shouting. "Where's Bakura?!"  
  
******  
"Garou, you are such a loyal servant..." Kuthos smiled darkly, pacing infront of "his" throne, hands clasped behind his back. Garou was sitting before him, one paw holding a once squirming Bakura flat to the ground. The boy had given up trying to free himself of the fang's strength five minutes ago. "My dear Bakura, do you realize why you're here?"  
  
No answer.  
  
And Bakura received a rigid kick in the face, his nose nearly breaking from contact. But it didn't. The silver-haired winced and reminded himself over and over again that this was NOT his yami, this was Kuthos. A Saber Fang, not a yami, not _his_ yami.  
  
"You are here because your father was quite an....what should I call him? A fool? Easy to kill too, childish cries you probably couldn't imagine. And I enjoyed every part of it, do you know why, Bakura?" Kuthos kneeled down infront of the boy who was ready to burst into tears, but he held them back. His long ago past with his dark half made his learn that trick. Kuthos smirked. "Because I was the one commanding the attack, I was the first born from the darkness, I was and am still the leader. And I was the one who decapitated your Father piece by piece, down to every bone on his frail body."  
  
Bakura's eyes slammed closed, holding back the tears. This.....this BEAST.....this so called Kuthos was the one to kill his father! HIS father! Another blow to the face hit, somehow his nose was still intact. He was holding back, either that or he was being held back by Akei. Maybe both.  
  
~Stop it...~ Akei was growing weaker by the minute, he couldn't figure out why either.  
  
*Silence!* Kuthos growled in return, taking a seat on the thrown and signaling to the two fangs that had tackled Seto and Yami earlier. *Just sit back, and relax my friend.*  
  
~Relax?! You want me to relax when you're here trying to kill me aibou, my hikari?!~  
  
*Yes, that's the idea now!*  
  
Akei frowned and watched helplessly as he was to watch his light be killed, and he could do nothing while being locked within this soul room. And it wasn't even his soul room! HIS was in Bakura's body, not here, not here at all.  
  
Bakura whimpered, feeling Garou lift its paw for him to sit up, only to be pulled to his feet by Kuthos though. "This city, Cairo, Thebes, whatever you must call it is soon drifting out of existence. No one will know it ever even existed, they will believe it exists now. Isn't that just wonderful? How joyful! You must be thrilled, ne?" Bakura's face dropped empty with emotion. "No? Oh how sad! Then I'll make it so you won't be around to see the end of this place!" He leered at the boy, grasping a hand tightly on the collar before throwing Bakura off balance, falling further away on his back painfully. A sting rose down his spine, nerves feeling pierced from the hard surface of contact.  
  
Kuthos smiled, not in a friendly way. He reseated himself in the throne that was once Yami's when he was Pharaoh, now Kuthos claims it his. He raised a hand, three fingers closing together, signaling his minions to form around Bakura. Instantly he snapped his fingers, preparing for the entertainment of watching another one of the Bakura family be killed. Ryou Bakura, this one's full name, but that wasn't important now. And it won't be ever again. He chuckled to himself at the thought.   
  
Bakura found he couldn't move, he seemed temporarily paralyzed. 'Great, just great...I feel like I'm a fish in between three sharks. Hungry ones too...I wish my yami was himself...he would get me out of this....what am I supposed to do?! I can't let what happened to my father happen to me too...! I-I just can't...'  
  
******  
"They're in the palace! They must be!" Ayane shouted, bursting through the doors of the palace and entering in followed by Yami, Rekanna, Yugi, and Kaiba.   
  
"Stay here!" Yami snapped out the order, running towards _his_ throne room. Yugi was about to run after, but was held back by Rekanna and Kaiba. Ayane stared back at him and shook her head 'no' to him, watching the former Pharaoh run off, pulling out a card along the way.  
  
'How I hate to do this...it's a large risk on Akei's life.....but it must be.....it must be done....'  
  
******  
"Garou! Attack already!" Kuthos hissed.  
  
The lead fang made a gruff sound and stepped forward, teeth barred as it sank jaws into Ryou's arm, almost all the way to the bone. The boy cried out immensely. The teeth felt ragged when the burrowed into his pale skin. Or once of pale. Now the boy's arm was covered in blood, his blood.   
  
Kuthos smiled, he wanted to be in there, taking apart each piece of flesh. But that would mean leaving this body. He couldn't do that unless absolutely needed. The other two Saber Fangs waited for a command for their chance, and Kuthos decided for the next one to go. "Nedu!"   
  
Nedu, the second named fang approached from its sitting position to a nearly passed out Ryou, ready to bite into the other arm...  
  
"Celtic Guardian!"  
  
But Nedu felt himself being knocked away and disappearing into the darkness of mist. A swordsman silently lunged forward, working hands over the hilt of the weapon to knock away the remaining Saber Fangs until they were gone for now. Kuthos stood angrily and looked to the warrior. "You bastard! How dare you throw my kin around like potato sacks!!" The Celtic Guardian paid no heed to respond, simply held up the sword. Quickly with his mind, Kuthos signaled Garou to return, feeling tip of the sword enter his leg. He cringed out, but managed to smirk. "You're all fools. Fools in my game that I will always be the champion. You can not win Yami! I know you are hiding out there! Have fun with your friends!" Kuthos laughed out and clicked his mind separate of Akei's, removing himself to be his own natural form. A fang once again, his eyes flashed and both him and Garou disappeared in a second.   
  
Yami ran into the room (taking the C.G back as a card), calling to the others to follow. Yugi, Kaiba, and Rekanna knelt around a shaking Ryou while Ayane inspected the room for any sign of Kuthos. Leaving Yami to check on Akei.   
  
He looked down sadly at the sight. The other yami had his leg severely bleeding, was sprawled over the floor with hair seemingly in every directing and face plus hair covered in sweat. His fingers, paler then normal clawed at the stone ground weakly, that was about his only sign of movement. Yami looked over to Ryou a moment to see Rekanna and his aibou trying to aid the boy.  
  
"Akei..." Yami whispered, lifting the dark half up from his spread out position and leaned him up against the fronting of the throne. "....Are you ok?" Stupid question. Really stupid. The two sharp russet eyes were hardly even slits, so hard to see that Yami was getting mentally worried. "Akei...sat something!" He hissed, though it remained a whisper.  
  
/Yami, is he ok...?/  
  
//I don't know aibou....//  
  
/Do you want help..?/  
  
//No...I think the last thing he wants is to be crowded. Isn't going to be happy to see me either most likely...//  
  
/Ok../  
  
"Akei, Akei listen to me. You ARE going to live. You're not apart of Kuthos anymore, or he's not apart of you. Remember that."  
  
Still there was no answer.   
  
Yami felt his eyes start to water. 'I shouldn't of used Celtic Guardian...Of COURSE a swordsman has an easy chance, but I never thought about Kuthos leaving Akei's body so he's unharmed but Akei IS harmed!' The former Pharaoh set both his hands of Akei's shoulders and stared at him, pain, guilt, fear, all in those crimson eyes. "Please Akei....say something, ANYTHING!"   
  
"H-help...."  
  
******  
  
  
  
Sappy! Kinda. I didn't edit this chapter...I was lazy I'm sorry. Kuthos has temporarily vanished, good for recovery and figuring out plans. Sorry if I get slow on chapters, weekends are everyone's friends though.  
  
::Glances at the end of the story.:: If anyone notices anything about the ending, say something, well you don't have to but I may end up having a question up next chapter if anyone may have any idea what I'm talking to myself about. I will not say anything myself.  
  
Review and until next time......  
........abiz! 


	13. Untitled Help

Next chapter coming at ya like a lil Goku on his flying Nimbus! Um...sorry....was the only thing that popped into my mind. Ahem...  
  
I again, did not edit this...I finished typing at 2am, I really did not want to edit....urge I gotta get into that habit again....  
  
Remember: Ryou is now normal Bakura so I don't go insane with myself and Akei is still the yami because of following the last story.  
  
******  
Yami hardly heard Akei's desperate plea of help. But it was something at least. He examined the still bleeding leg and removed his cobalt blue jacket, wrapping the leg in it before turning his head to the group trying to help Ryou. "Aibou! Wrap his arm in your jacket!"  
  
"Ok Yami!" Yugi nodded and removed his own jacket and tied it tightly around Ryou's arm while Kaiba and Rekanna held the whimpering boy still.   
  
[Aibou...are you ok.....?]  
  
{I will be...I hope....I should be asking you the same thing though, you had us all worried for awhile and then you get stabbed...}  
  
[It's nothing...I'll be ok...If I could move that is..]  
  
Ryou held his aided arm and stumbled to stand, finally making it up to two feet. Ayane had left the room, trying to find spell books and Kaiba had decided to go lean against some wall in the room, but Yugi and Rekanna remained telling Ryou not to stand, he responded with a cough and a few words. "Not me...help my yami.."  
  
Just then, Ayane came running into the room, a thick, tattered book in her hands and a joy filled smile on her face. "I can help!" She ran over to kneel by Akei, setting the book to the floor and flipping quickly through the pages as she spoke out, ignoring Yami's curious looks as he held onto Akei's wrapped leg to put pressure on the bleeding. "Ryou, walk over and sit infront of your yami."  
  
The boy nodded softly and moved to kneel infront of his dark half with Yugi and Rekanna following to look over Ayane's handy work. "Oh! I know that spell! Need any help sis?"  
  
Ayane nodded and stood, signaling everyone to move back except her sister. Yami seemed slightly paranoid about moving, but did so after a tug on his arm he received from Yugi. Her eyes dropped to look at the floor where the book was, reading over the spell and letting her eyes gaze at the two "patients". Akei's eyes were hardly opened anymore as he traveled towards the brinks of unconsciousness and Ryou was clutching his arm painfully. She sighed and looked up at a worried Yami and spoke out. "May we use your Mystical Elf?"  
  
"Why...?" He stared blankly then looked at the book and then back at her with narrowed eyes and a hard glare, voice firm. "Wait a second! Do you plan to use a Shadow spell?!"  
  
"Well. Yes," she stated, folding her arms as if it were no big deal.   
  
"You KNOW how much of a risk there is to use one of those! I BAN those spells for a reason back in our time! And all spell books were SUPPOSED to be burned!" He snapped out, ignoring his light's mental wishes for him to calm down. "Now how did THAT book not get burned?!"  
  
"I kept it." Ayane paused and remained calm. "Trust me, my Pharaoh, the spell will succeed."  
  
"You expect me, to trust someone who BETRAYED my commands to burn a spell book a Millennia ago?!" His voice was now becoming ragged, yet still he fumed. "As one of my mages I figured YOU would listen, but here I see now I was-"  
  
"Yami..." Everyone's eyes traveled to look over at Akei, who dim life structure had weakened even more. "...Let them perform.......the spell...."  
  
"If it fails, you both will die."  
  
"We will die...anyway Yami....give them the card...........let them..." He coughed out painfully, body jerking from the feeling and he looked up at Yami. ".....Let them do the spell...........onegai..."  
  
Yami sighed and turned his head away, a hand slipping into a pocket and pulling out a card, handing it over to Rekanna and faced his head at a wall.  
  
/Yami, what's a Shadow spell...?/  
  
'I should have known he would ask....' //They were spells that could only be used in the Shadow Realm, they would either turn out successful, or fail. If they failed, it would be a painful and dark death.//  
  
/But we aren't in the Shadow Realm.../  
  
//Yes aibou, but the environment is very similar, but more dark, nevertheless, the spells work the same here.//  
  
/Oh.../ Yugi's thoughts trailed as he realized that the Mystical elf was now floating behind Ryou, chanting a spell in harmony with the two Shinsei sisters. A soft radiance of light ruptured up around the wounded yami and hikari, glimmering from responds of the spell being recited.   
  
When it all died down, Yami was surprised to look back over and see both albinos alive...  
  
******  
Yugi and Yami received both their jackets back, blood free surprisingly enough. The spell that was performed did a good clean up job. That wasn't all it did though......Ryou and Akei were completely healed, minus the fact that they were exhausted. Yugi talked with those two in the room whilst Yami, Rekanna, and Ayane argued about the past and Seto just stayed against his wall.  
  
A simple ring snapped everyone's attention as one and all eyes fell to Kaiba who pulled his cell phone from his pocket to stare at it blankly.   
  
It was Akei's turn for fuming.  
  
"You had that phone this entire time?! Why didn't you freaking call anyone to get us out of here?! You bastard, we could have done SOMETHING with it!!!!"  
  
"I did try," Kaiba sighed, answering the ringing phone with an agitated voice. "Hello?"  
  
"Master Kaiba!"  
  
"What do YOU want, Kirt?" Kaiba hissed into the phone. Figures, off all people to call it HAD to be someone from his company.  
  
"To find out what happened to you! Everyone is worried! Where _are_ you anyway...?"  
  
"Cairo."  
  
"Cairo?" The worked asked confused, making Seto even more annoyed (if possible). "Where's that..?"  
  
'Can he really be that much of an idiot?' "Egypt, fool."  
  
"Um...hold on sir..."   
  
Kaiba could hear other voices around the phone and the question from "Kirt" of 'Has anyone heard of Cairo?' being asked many times. A female voice took over the phone after more of that. "Sir? Are you ok?"  
  
"YES! Why?!" His voice was sharper now, a thorn almost, and the fact that everyone was staring at him wasn't helping his tolerance.  
  
"There is no such place as this... 'Cairo' you speak of."  
  
"What?! Did I really hire such fools?! Cairo, the capital of Egypt, got it?!"  
  
"But sir...everyone knows that there has never been a named capital in Egypt..."  
  
Kaiba winced in shock. "Are you sure....?"  
  
"Yes sir, now where are you..?"  
  
Seto hung up the phone and shoved it in his pocket, staring at the ground.  
  
"Seto..?" Rekanna questioned.  
  
"My employees say that there is no recorded capital of Egypt...that no such of place of Cairo exists...."  
  
Everyone stared in disbelief, but something new caught their eyes that stood in the doorway...on all fours.   
  
First thought: Crud a Saber Fang.  
Second thought: Pull a card, kill it quick!  
Third thought: Wait, why does it seem different?  
  
"Don't be alarmed, I beg of you." The creature stared at them with rounded blue eyes and more of a feline shaped body, like a deep brown panther, yet strength of a wolf and larger muscles like one. It was indeed a Saber Fang, a long tail curving around its body as SHE moved to sit.   
  
"That's just so reassuring.." Kaiba mumbled.  
  
"No please, listen to me, I'm not here to kill you.."  
  
"I've heard that before!" Yami spat, moving forward of Yugi as a shield, Akei doing the same with Ryou. "Your kind shall pay for all the trouble you've caused to us and Egypt!"  
  
"No! I'm not even working with them! I'm an outcast!"  
  
"Liar!" Yami countered, hand in his pocket and he readied to pull the Dark Magician.   
  
Akei stepped forward though and stared at the creature. "No, wait! She's telling the truth!"  
  
"And you would know how..?" Ayane spoke up.  
  
Akei turned to face them all, a determined look outlined on his face. "Because, when Kuthos had control of me I could feel it every time he mentally connected to the minds of all the Saber Fangs, I could feel them...and I know, that this one was not apart of the link."  
  
"I told you, I am an outcast. I was brewed of the darkness just like everyone else, but somehow instead of being mostly canine and part feline, I was the opposite. Kuthos ignored me when he noticed that."  
  
Yugi seemed to except this....Saber Fang deform and figured he could trust her. "Why is he the leader?"  
  
"Because he was the first spawned of the darkness, I was the third but hid away into the tomb until the darkness was unleashed. I never _wanted_ this to happen, I saw no point really." She said, relaxing more that no one seemed ready to kill her yet.  
  
Ryou moved up besides his dark half, still slightly edgy but figured if she was telling this much, then she must be trustable. "So they are after me because of my father...?"  
  
"Foolish father more like it.." Kaiba muttered, figuring no one would hear. But the Saber Fang did and she stood and pawed over to him, a glare crossing her mix gene face.   
  
"It was not HIS fault! HE was forced into the temple!"  
  
"By who?" Yami asked before Ryou had a chance.  
  
"By a spirit." She paused, looking over to them. "Or a ghost, a ghost making his final wish before sinking fully into death." Akei's face recoiled, something didn't feel right. The voice of the creature was haunting, she wasn't threatening, that was obvious...but what did she mean? Now it was Rekanna's turn to question though..  
  
"Did the ghost have a name?"  
  
"Yes..." The feline stare away from the seven lingering gazes, hardly speaking the last word. "Dansei."  
  
******  
  
  
  
Did you really think he was dead? Well, actually he is now, just doing last wishes, eheh. Come on, perfect way for revenge. Think about it, lure Ryou's father into an ancient tomb with a dark curse on it, he awakens the curse so that he gets killed by Kuthos and one other Saber Fang and then anyone of his blood will be killed first...meaning Ryou and Akei. They get hunted until they are taken down, isn't Dansei just a genius? Meh, but he's in his grave now...I hate his char, I have fun with Kuthos 'cause I see him as mocking everyone.  
  
Anyhow, I thought this chapter kinda sucked and was rushed.....but it did give a lot of info. I had a kind of writer's block in it.....But the next chapter should be up tomorrow or Tuesday. I have Labor Day off from school and no Volleyball practice so I can type ^^   
Review, onegai! 


	14. Anu's Duty

Ha! I have edited all of the chapters with Kuthos's mental link with Akei, it was really annoying how Akei's lines disappeared...but it's all better now ^^  
  
Meh....this chapter is REALLY short, for me anyway....but hey...I gave Yugi a part!  
  
******  
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN?!" Akei snapped out in rage, stumbling forward and using Ryou to balance himself before continuing. "This is DANSEI'S fault?!"  
  
{Yami relax...}  
  
[He's supposed to be dead though!]  
  
"He is dead," the creature spoke up, pawing to move her narrow body to the center of the room. "Think of it this way, when anyone dies, sometimes they don't go straight to the grave. They linger around, like they just had to do one thing to settle their mind. I guess that's what Dansei did...does he have a grudge against you...?" Her head turned and tilted to the side to Akei. By now the group figured she was just a panther, fur turning from deep brown to more of a dark gray, the only thing that seemed to keep her from the panther form was the fact she had a longer muzzle, a wolf styled one.   
  
Akei ignored the question and looked away.  
  
Ayane took this chance of silence to step forward. "Who are you..?"  
  
"Anu."  
  
"So do you know where Kuthos fled to?" Yami asked, finally giving into this one creature. Yugi helped him with that.  
  
"No, but I do know where Garou escaped off to. Garou was the second born of the darkness, and the most loyal to Kuthos, but the only way to get to him is by using....bait. There's a building within the city that he went into, put someone outside the door and he can't resist the urge of a meal.."  
  
"I'll do it."  
  
"No, aibou."  
  
/Yami! I have to!/  
  
//Yugi, it is too dangerous, you could be killed, I couldn't live with myself if that were to happen..//  
  
/Yami, you can't do it, Ryou and Akei are in a too tired position, Kaiba wouldn't, and we might need Rekanna and Ayane later!/  
  
//Aib-//  
  
"Show me the way Anu," Yugi spoke out, blocking off his dark half's mental connection, He slipped a hand into Yami's pocket where the deck was and pulled out the Dark Magician before running towards the door before Yami could catch him.   
  
Anu raced after the boy and turned her head back at them. "The boy will be fine, I promise you that. Ayane and Rekanna, you both come along too, we need your magic. Everyone else STAY here!" And the femme was off, padding ahead of Yugi to lead him into town, the two Shinsei sisters following behind wondering how Anu knew their name.   
  
"Wait!" Yugi called out, causing Anu to stop and look back at the paused boy, giving time for Ayane and Rekanna to catch up. "Dark Magician!" Yugi yelled out, smiling as the card became engulfed by an indigo aura and floated to his side before forming into his favorite card.   
  
Anu nodded an approval of the magician and looked back up at Yugi. "May we continue on? We are almost there."  
  
"Yeah, I'm ready now."  
  
******  
"I can't believe this!" Yami ranted, he had been since Yugi left. "Does he understand how dangerous this is?!"  
  
"The runt is growing up, Yami."  
  
Ruby eyes glared over at Kaiba. "How would you feel if Mokuba was doing this?"   
  
"Mokuba is still young, besides, if I told him not to go, he would actually _listen_ to me."  
  
Yami slumped into the throne that was once his, he still thought of it as his nevertheless. "I can't believe this...."  
  
"Relax already. He has the Shinsei sisters and the Dark Magician card with him," Akei commented, standing from his position on the floor to walk infront of Yami's throne.  
  
"It's not that I'm entirely worried...it's the PURPOSE......he even closed off the link, how do I know he's ok?" Yami looked up from his sagged position, though he said he wasn't worried, it was clearly spoken in his eyes that he was.   
  
"Yami. He WILL be fine," the former tomb-robber continued to encourage, not realizing his light came up besides him.   
  
{Do you really think he will be?}  
  
[I'm...not sure, aibou.]  
  
******  
"We're here. Yugi, you stand outside the door. Sisters and Dark Magician, you hide and I will as well." Anu whispered out before her body faded and joined into the dark mist.   
  
Yugi stared violet eyes at the small clay made looking building. His Dark Magician had managed to brew an Invisibility spell and Yugi could feel the magician nearly behind him as a guard. The boy hung his head slightly, taking in a breath before stepping forward slowly, moving a hand up to touch the door hardly holding up by its hinges. He gasped in a slight shock of fear, feeling a dark energy pull from the door towards him.   
  
But before he could open it himself, the door broke fully off the hinges, signaling for Yugi to enter. Eyes watered slightly and his feet did the work, pulling himself into the room and hearing a loud crash echo in the single roomed building. Yugi had to use all faith to not run out in fear, hearing a patter against the ground of something coming near him.... He took a deep breath, muttering out as he prepared himself.  
  
"This is for you Yami...."  
  
******  
  
  
  
Man, that was three pages....THREE pages! I rushed that . urg....school is taking away my thoughts! Oh well, I'll make the next one longer, I hope, eheh, when it'll be out I have no idea....I have a scrimmage today in volleyball that I must go get changed for....eheh....Ja! Until again... 


	15. Yugi's Stand

Man! I haven't updated in a REALLY long time. Writer's block...the downside of life. School too, keeps my thoughts lopsided...I still have writer's block actually, eh....let's see how I do with this chapter anyway...  
  
This is a slightly more violent chapter then the others, not too bad in my opinion, if that helps any.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or show Yu-Gi-Oh but I do own- Kuthos, Garou, Anu, and the three (well two now) Shinsei sisters.  
  
******  
"DARK MAGICIAN, ATTACK!!!!!"  
  
At Yugi's ear blasting command, a spherical shape skimmed over his head and into the creature before him. But he could still hear movement, the creature was advancing in on him. The Dark Magician teleported infront of its master, staff outright ready to attack. Yugi smiled at this, and the fact that the spellcaster had used a spell to light up the room, showing an enraged Garou.   
  
"Fools to of come here! That is what you are!" The fang ripped his voice through the air, approaching Yugi until it found itself unable to lift its paws. "What the?! What did you do?!"  
  
"We put a lovely ensnare spell around you," Ayane chuckled, entering the room with Rekanna close in tow. "Isn't it so lovely? Why don't you have your dear master, Kuthos come save you...?"  
  
"How stupid do you think I am?"  
  
"Stupid enough to be caught in an Egyptian spell." Now Anu stepped out of the shadows and pawed her way the right of a raged Garou. She smirked. "Surprised to see the outcast? Didn't think I was good for anything now, did you, hm? Well that's what your own fault. Now be a dear and tell us WHERE KUTHOS IS!"  
  
"Now who's playing fool?"  
  
Anu hissed at the responds and crouched her femme body low to the ground, tongue flapping out and rolling along her teeth as if ready to lunge, and Yugi for one, noticed this off the bat. "Wait! Anu, don't!"  
  
"Why not? I'll force the information from his snout!"  
  
"Well, we have a better idea," Rekanna chuckled, her and Ayane standing in the doorway with their arms out before them, palms touching palms and forming a spherical light in each.   
  
Garou seemed intimidated now by being outnumbered, backing up to try and make room. His muzzle twitched ever so slightly, picking up a foul scent that could only be one thing, creating a smirk over the fang's facial features.   
  
"Give me your best shot."  
  
Yugi stepped out of the way of the two sisters, summoning the Dark Magician back as it's card, and Anu also moved aside. The spheres in the sister's hands both grew and turned from a midnight color, to holy, voices shouting out loudly.   
  
"Itsumademo Tataru!!"  
  
******  
Yami's head snapped up from his sleep filled position at his throne, a bolt of energy wiping through him. Something was happening, or already happened. He turned his gaze to where before he dozed off, Akei had been leaning against a wall.....and now the other yami had moved to stand erect in the doorway, eyes at full alert and beads of sweat running off his forehead and neck.   
  
"Akei?" His tone was soft, catching the attention of Kaiba who didn't want any part of being here. The one with his spoken name turned his head, staring wide-eyed at Yami, his body quivering just enough to be noticeable. "Tell me what's wrong."  
  
Akei turned his head back to the hallway. "Someone casted a light classed spell, that's all."  
  
Yami nodded, understanding this and rested back against the throne. The difference him and Akei had, was Akei was a Dark Mage, and Yami specified in both light and dark, but he had a fair resistance to both. Akei had to work though on being strong against the light magic, he had an adept sensing to when the magic was casted, feeling slightly pained if it was directed close by.  
  
"You felt it too then, I presume?" Yami inquired, raising a brow to try and make sense of the other as Ryou separated tiredly from his dark half.   
  
Akei merely nodded, not saying what was on his mind.   
  
But Yami figured it out on his own. "If there's light magic being casted....then Ayane and Rekanna are using it.....and that means...." His voice went to a whisper as his eyes widened, standing up slowly. "Aibou..."  
  
******  
"Fine, kill me, it won't do you any good," Garou hissed, lunging forward and sinking his teeth into Yugi's shirt, pulling him over and out the door as the spell hit across his canine body.   
  
A whimper made it out his muzzle, the same time as dropping Yugi. The multi-haired boy began crawling to his feet, but felt pushed to the ground and looked to a not so healthy Garou pinning him to the ground. "A new prey every day, my sacrifice of myself will be an unbothered loss, but for you to be the new catch..." The Saber Fang lifted a single paw off Yugi's chest and laid it against a cheek, claws breaking the flexion of Yugi's skin that will leave five red marks by the time he pulls away, but for now, the crimson of his inwardly fluid ran down his cheek, mixed with pain filled tears.  
  
Anu jumped outside and charged her body into Garou, sending him falling to his side a short distance away. Ayane and Rekanna began to run towards Yugi, but right as they nearly reached him....they were held in place where the stood, unable to get to him.  
  
"Come on, Anu, take my life already," Garou taunted, the two circling each other like two wolves meeting for the first time and finding their distinctive thoughts about the other. This was more like a spar though, a death match. One will live, the other shall fall by the caper's feet, or paws more like it.  
  
"You taunt me as if you wish not to die."  
  
"Take my life, it is an easy task."  
  
She growled and lunged at the other, only to have him jump out of the way and chortle softly, returning to the circling format. "Tsk, tsk, must try again now, my beloved."  
  
"Don't you DARE call me that!" In a rage of anger, she thrust a paw into him, catching his under belly and tearing it apart. He stared pleased as he fell to the ground, dark-blank eyes never meeting hers, only what was in the distance.  
  
She watched as he fell still, unmoving, watching the body until she heard to familiar screams. Eyes darted up and over to Ayane and Rekanna who fought to move, but found the matter impossible, and Anu saw their reasons to scream. "Yugi!"  
  
The boy, the chosen one, the vessel of the once Egyptian Pharaoh, was swiped. Anu turned fully to face a laughing and crazed Kuthos, her enemy. He rejected her from the "pack" the formation of his master plan. And she hated him for it.  
  
"Well, isn't this heartbreaking. My best follower, Garou, killed by the traitor. How despising. Nevertheless, I have a prize to take home, I'm tell dear Ryou to give himself up, if you want your friend back."  
  
"What are you planning Kuthos?!"  
  
"Simple. It is SO utterly simple!" He paused, standing over a half coherent Yugi Motou, the boy off balance to blood loss. "But I'll let you, figure it all out. Oh! Dear me, looks like I'm late for making your life miserable, must be keeping on schedule now, mustn't I? Remember what I told you, Ryou for Yugi." He laughed and lifted Yugi up by the shirt collar, like a mother carrying a kitten and before anyone could do anything, he was out of sight.   
  
Ayane and Rekanna fell forward, the spell holding them down breaking away due to Kuthos's disappearance. Anu just stared with a blank expression, at last talking up.  
  
"Yami is going to kill me..."  
  
******  
Yami, followed by Akei, Ryou, and finally Kaiba ran from the palace, Akei moving besides the pharaoh to point out where he sensed the last bit of active magic. When they found the place, the three people they saw didn't give them much encouragement. Over and over, Yami counted the forms whilst Akei moved forward to stare at the dead carcass of Garou.   
  
It took a short time to register, but Yami finally broke. "WHERE'S YUGI?!"  
  
"He was.......Kuthos got......he got him...." Anu spoke, staring down at the ground. Yami's hand retreated to a pocket, and Ayane could tell what he was planning, jumping over to him and grabbing his arms, locking them behind his back so he couldn't move. "HEY! Release me!"  
  
"Calm down! I know what you were going to do!" She snapped in responds, causing him to grunt and glare at Anu.   
  
Ryou stepped up and tilted his head slightly. "What were you going to do..?"  
  
Yami didn't answer, so Ayane merely did for him. "He was planning on drawing a card and destroying Anu."  
  
"Oh goody....a heart torn pharaoh..."  
  
The glare averted from Anu to Seto, who shrugged as if he said nothing.   
  
"WHY didn't you three DO anything?"  
  
It was Rekanna's turn. "Anu and Garou were dueling it off and Ayane and I tried getting to him, but Kuthos must have casted a spell because we couldn't move anywhere." She paused, looking to a silent Akei and then to Ryou, finalizing her gaze to the ground below. "There is one way to get him back..."  
  
"How?!"  
  
"Kuthos wants Ryou."  
  
"What?! NO!" Akei instantaneously raised his voice, standing protectively infront of his light. "No one is giving Ryou to Kuthos!"  
  
Yami sighed. "But then what about Yugi..."  
  
"We'll find another way, Pharaoh!" Akei hissed out, causing Yami to look away, partially ashamed for thinking such a thing.   
  
"Wait a second..."  
  
All eyes fell to Kaiba.  
  
"There is, an actual way.."  
  
******  
  
  
  
Ok, that chapter kinda sucked, but I typed it kinda of quick. I was listening to the tune from the Kingdom Hearts commercial, I want that game....am I the only one that thinks it looks REALLY good for something with Disney characters in it? Oh well, doesn't matter. I have to rethink my plot for this, I kinda forgot what I was leading to with it....oh goody....maybe I'll bring in Malik....hm....who wants to see Malik? Raise your hand!   
  
Yeah, ok, next chapter I have absolutely no idea when it will be up, I've been RPing too so that draws my thoughts from the story...  
  
Nevertheless....Ja! 


	16. Hold Up

Wow! How long since I've updated? Over a month I imagine....ugh, sorry folks. I've been just so stumped on where to take this. I've been working on Itsumademo Naito the most lately....eheh....love that fic....  
  
But now I have a little idea that involves a certain somebody, and no, it isn't Malik (I'll drag him at some point...)  
  
Malik: NO!!!  
  
*Kuthos to possessed person*  
~Possessed person to Kuthos~  
  
=Malik to Mariku=  
~*Mariku to Malik*~  
  
******  
"What do you mean Kaiba?!" Yami spun to face the other, still torn over Yugi being a captive.   
  
"Well....what about that exorcism idea that was brought up earlier...? We never did look for any spell books."  
  
Yami sent Kaiba a harsh glare and hissed out, arm pointing towards Akei for his emphasis. "Can't you see that Bakura isn't possessed anymore?! There's not a damn point for an exorcism spell now!"  
  
"What if it happens again, hm, Yami?"  
  
"Now that's doubtful, Seto.." Rekanna stated, a sigh unmasked in her voice. She received a questionable look. "If you haven't noticed, Kuthos is stronger in his main form, he'll keep to that form. Besides, there's no one else here that he could get, we just all need to stay together."  
  
Akei remained silent during all of this, the thought of Kuthos holding Yugi just to get Ryou was absurd! How could he be that savage?! Ah, but of course, with Akei's mind being fused with Kuthos's for a time being, it was obvious that the creature was very outgoing, especially when it comes to death. What made the yami even more angered, and it was being displayed over his features now, was the fact that this was ultimately Dansei's fault. The bastard couldn't handle dying and he triggered it all to occur.  
  
"Akei...?" Yami's personal hatred had burnt down now, yet it lingered within him deftly, concern showed past though. "Are you ok...?" The other's russet eyes were literally shaking, eye lids tightening shut and Ryou wasn't sure on how to react as Akei gritted out through clenched teeth.  
  
"It was him....he just can't handle defeat.....damn Dansei....DAMN YOU!!" He shouted out, head thrown back as his voice shot through the air like a bullet. Ryou walked to his yami, but was merely pulled protectively in his soul room by his darker half, everyone else just stared as Akei dropped to his knees, fists slamming to the ground as he cried.  
  
Anu lifted her head and pushed her muzzle against the others, directing them to a building. "Let's give him some privacy..."  
  
Anu, Rekanna, Ayane, and Seto all entered into the directed building, but Yami still lingered by the dark one. He kneeled down, reaching a hand out to cuff Akei's cheek and bring the tear stricken face to look him in the eye.  
  
"I'm sorry, Akei. I'm sorry for thinking of only my light when yours matters just the same. I wasn't thinking coherently, and I'm sorry."  
  
******  
Kuthos sneered a wolfish grin as Yugi was sitting besides the throne of the palace. Chained by wrists and ankles to the floor. He was beaten several times, looking much like a slave. And to be exact, *Kuthos's* slave.  
  
"Dear boy, you'll soon be out of here....no, wait.....I have a better idea!" The creature snickered as it pawed to sit before Yugi. "I get Ryou, and I will keep you, my little pet..."  
  
"They won't bring Ryou! You'll see, they just won't!"  
  
"Oh really now....then I guess I have to fetch my other pet now, hm?"  
  
Yugi's eyes went wide. Other pet?! Who else could Kuthos possibly have taken?! What if it was Yami?! Yugi could never have known, of course he tried the mind link, but Kuthos found a way to block any of that. Which wasn't much of a surprise.  
  
But what he saw dragged in, was not his darker half. Held by two albino Saber Fangs, both being Kuthos's new servants with Garou's death, was a ruffled form. Yugi could make out the black hair held by a bandana and green eyes that opened once to him, no...to Kuthos, and then they closed shut again.   
  
"No way!"  
  
"Hm, hm, hm....this pet shall be perfect....." Kuthos gave a laugh before vanishing before Yugi's eyes, the tri-haired boy watching as the "pet" arose from the ground, a smirk crossing the facial features as he smoothly turned, walking out.  
  
The two albinos glared at him with heated red eyes, stalking towards him and striking him to the ground. Yugi whimpered out and curled in defense, chains and shackles getting in his way as the two Saber Fangs moved away towards the door to the throne room, sitting guard.  
  
******  
Akei lifted his head, giving Yami a surprised look.  
  
"Do you really mean that...?" He watched Yami give a nod and helped him to his feet. Akei gave a thankful look and blinked though as his ring was engulfed by a glow before sending a narrow beam out before him. Yami jumped away as the light shot out through the dark air holding them in.   
  
"Who the heck could that be?!" The former Pharaoh yelled, beginning to count the Millennium Item holders on his hand. "It couldn't possibly be Shadi or Isis but then that only leaves-"  
  
"Malik. Malik is out there....but he can't get in.."  
  
"Are you sure...?"  
  
"Positive."  
  
"I can't believe I'm saying this but..." Yami gave a sigh, rolling his eyes. He wasn't what you would call, a fan of Malik. "Should we see if we can help him in? Honestly, we need all the power we can get.....and now that I think about it....the rod could solve some of our problems..."  
  
"Now that would be nice....but may I remind you, Yami, we've tried breaking through here already. I think Malik will have more of a chance getting in without us."  
  
"Guess you're right..."  
  
Akei turned his head as the beam of light vanished and his glowing ring died down, but the "excitement" didn't. Yami noticed the same as he did, but recognized the form running/limping towards him. "That can't be him..."  
  
"Can't be who?" Akei raised a brow, looking back at the other and then back at the form, who almost made it to them before falling over.   
  
"Duke Devlin...." he shook his head and ran towards the collapsed boy, Akei followed and they both together helped him up as Yami explained. "I dueled him once with Dungeon Dice Monsters.."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Yeah...great seeing you....too...." Duke groaned, holding his head as he moved back to stand without them. "What're you doing here anyway...?"  
  
"Better yet, what are *you* doing here?" Yami shot back, causing Duke to roll his eyes.  
  
"I came here on vacation...but well," his eyes darted around to the dark cloud surrounding the city and mist within the streets, "look how it all turned out. Do you two know what happened? I just remembered seeing all these things in the street, I mean, I know they evacuated the city but I was too-"  
  
"-arrogant to leave," Yami finished and Duke grunted.  
  
"*Anyway*, I've been hiding away for so long, I finally just gave up, when basically saw you two here."  
  
"We aren't the only ones here," Akei pointed out, directing Duke and Yami to the house the others had went in. The three entered and Duke immediately moved backwards, hand indicating at Anu.  
  
"T-that's one of those t-things!"  
  
"Gee, this guy seems smart..." Anu muttered, laying her body along the ground.   
  
Kaiba lifted his head to Akei with a chuckle, his words receiving a glare from both Yami and Akei. "You done crying now?" That comment went ignored, Ayane's own voice trampling over it as her eyes held on Duke.  
  
"Who's he?"  
  
"Duke Devlin," Akei and Yami replied in unison as Duke fingered a hand through his hair. The fact that Anu was glaring at him made his body feel uneasy, though, he did admit he didn't truly remember what had happened when he had entered into the streets.  
  
*And I assure you, you will not remember Dukey-boy. Your mind and body, is mine.*  
  
~Who are you?! Get out of my head!~  
  
*Never. You are my tool to get the Bakura boy from these fools, I will claim....no, you will claim him and I will have the only two hikari's I need!*  
  
~No...~  
  
*Oh yes.*  
  
Duke's form fell against the wall as Anu stood and pawed over to him, sitting herself before the boy. "Yami, I don't trust this guy. He's hiding something, I just know it." She turned her head to an unconvinced Yami, who was not the least bit worried in his mind. All he was worried about was Yugi.  
  
"I don't exactly trust you, Anu."  
  
"But Yami!"  
  
"He's fine, he's a bastard anyway, *trust me*." He narrowed his eyes towards Duke, who faltered a bit at the comment.  
  
*You seem SO loved now with these people...*  
  
Ayane shrugged her shoulders and pulled out a card, not showing it to anyone. "Well, I say we go and see if we can find anything to help us. No use sitting around here and waiting for Kuthos to come to us."  
  
Her sisters gave a nod as well, heading towards the door. "Any suggestions then...?"  
  
"I know I said against this before, Yami, but maybe we *should* see if we can get outside of this hell hole."  
  
Yami gave an agreeable look. "Alright, everyone, though we failed once, we're going to try and break outside, or at least put a rip in the dark shield holding us in. Malik's out there, trying to get in, and how I hate it....we need his help."  
  
Anu was on the pads of her feet and moved out the door with Rekanna and Ayane following, Kaiba afterwards. Yami was moving after, but noticed Akei looking off towards the side. "Aren't you coming? This was your idea."  
  
"I know...but....I don't think it's safe bringing Ryou with us....Kuthos is going to have his little minion puppets stalking in the streets, better not have him with us...." he paused and hung his head, "but I also don't want to leave him alone...."  
  
*Well! This is just perfect now! Dukey-boy, you make a great vessel!*  
  
~No....don't.....~  
  
*You have no say in this, human! You're merely my pawn, so live with it!* Kuthos gave a chuckle from within Duke's mind and the form leaned off of the wall, raising a brow and moving limply towards Yami and Akei. "I can watch Ryou, honestly, I don't think I'm in any condition to move very far, it was hard enough making it into the streets..."  
  
Akei was pleased by this and separated from Ryou, briefly telling his light to stay with Duke before leaving outside with Yami and the others.  
  
"Yami, you can't seriously be leaving Ryou with...that.....that Duke!" Anu whimpered in worry, her tail sulking against the sand. But Yami simply glared at her and followed after Akei, who was using the ring as a guide towards where Malik was supposed to be stationed outside the darkness.  
  
******  
"So....you're Duke....the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters, right?"  
  
"Hm....I guess..." The form smirked as Ryou stared blankly from where he sat in a chair. He paced around slightly, turned his head as the emerald eyes flashed red a moment, sending a pulse through Ryou and looking back to the boy, facial normal again. "You can contact that Akei person, right?"  
  
"Yeah, he's part of me...why?"  
  
"Just wondering. Oh! Hey, can you contact your....um...other half, so I can see how you look when it happens?"  
  
"I uh...I guess I can..."  
  
{Yami...?}  
  
................  
  
Ryou's face turned to horror, than panic as he stood up. "I-I can't contact him!"  
  
Kuthos formed a smirk over Duke's face and chuckled. "Good."  
  
"What?! That's not go-" Ryou was cut short as he felt himself pushed to the ground, falling into the chair and crying out in a sudden pain down his spine.   
  
"Too bad no one ever listens to Anu...." He chuckled and bent down, hand grasping Ryou's chin, forcing the terrified boy to look at him. "Ah, yes now, dear Ryou....I have both you and the young Motou now..."  
  
"N-no....you......you can't be-"  
  
"Little Ryou, I'll make sure you stay with 'Duke', don't you worry."  
  
******  
  
  
  
Aww.....I'm being mean to Ryou again! I'm sorry! But hey, I figured how to work Malik in and help me out a lot. So nice now. But if you couldn't figure it out, Kuthos has now possessed Duke's body and he did so to get his hands on Ryou. Which worked out, as Kuthos said, "To bad no one ever listens to Anu."   
  
Because Anu was right. Heheh.... I hope I can get the next chapter up quicker than I did this one...it seems when I get to chapter 15 in a fic, I lose it kind of. That's what happened with Haunting Shadows, yet I still haven't given up on it! Arg....but anyway, onto work on chapter 17! And please, review! 


	17. Plans of Power

YOU ALL ARE MY BEST FRIENDS!!!!! Points at her reviews. ONE HUNDRED!!!!! I finally got over one hundred on a fic!! Thank you everyone!! ThankyouthankyouthankyouTHANKYOU!!  
  
Akei: I think they get the point.  
  
Huh?  
  
Akei: ::Points at a piece of paper she had wrote thank you all over.::  
  
Oh....right.  
  
Hm....I got a minor brainstorm off Kuthos's character.....I love him, yet I hate him. Anyone else feel that way...?  
  
"Many new things are scary, like leaving your home, and broccoli." -Goku: Dragon Ball  
  
Couldn't resist that quote...  
  
******  
"Hm....you know....I was going to kill you...." Kuthos chuckled, pacing shortly before the throne back in the palace. He still had complete control of Duke's body, and how grand it was for him. Yugi still was chained to one side besides the throne, and now...Ryou was on the other. Kuthos gave a dark "giggle" kind of thing, haunting to the two hikaris as he first pointed to Ryou. "I was going to kill you, because it's my job, and I was going to kill you...." his finger traveled to point at a beaten Yugi, "because it's just fun!"  
  
"So.....you aren't going to kill us...?" Ryou muttered, giving Kuthos another good laugh.  
  
"Of course not! Well....yet anyway. First, I use you and drain every last bit of that horrid light aura you have in your bodies....then we'll see what I feel like doing...."  
  
"It doesn't matter what you FEEL like doing! My yami will show you! And at some point you'll have to stop running scared by using other's bodies to manipulate them!"  
  
"Ryou, no!" Yugi yelled over quickly to the boy, but it was too late and the other hikari was struck into the side of the throne, it was as far as he could go with the chains. He held his eyes closed, opening them at last to stare at one of the two albino Saber Fangs, its paw still hanging in the air and holding some of Ryou's own blood.   
  
"Too late, rat. Maybe I should leave you both and let the Motou boy teach you some lessons!" Kuthos hissed in an unseen rage, turning and storming towards the hallway, turning around in a crescent shape, black hair of Duke's form falling before deadly jaded eyes. "Both of you, come with me! Those two have nowhere to move."  
  
The two albinos looked at one another, in a short time swiftly moving to follow their master, leaving Yugi and Ryou alone again.   
  
"Ryou....you can't back talk at him....I've learned, it just makes things worse...."  
  
"Well what am I supposed to do?!"  
  
"I don't.....I don't know Ryou....I don't know how we're going to get out of this....we're the two he wants it seems, I know that's obvious though. But still, we're the last real source of light in this city....when we're gone....there'll only be....darkness..."  
  
"Yugi! That's not true!" Ryou wheezed out, still trying to maintain his voice from his recent hit. "Malik is out there! Just before I got here, I was left with who we all thought was Duke, and the others went to try and make an opening to the outside world because Malik and his yami were trying to get in! There's still one source left!"  
  
******  
"Arg! Come on!" Yami hissed, slamming his fists at the dark mist that formed a shield around the innards of the city. Static formed all around where his clenched hands were shoved against, trying to break through the barrier but it was hopeless.  
  
Rekanna and Ayane had been trying spells and Akei was with the thought of fists as well, Seto trying the take the easy way of using a Blue Eyes.   
  
Anu, merely watched, sitting far back on all fours with a drooped head, sharp eyes soft with fear.  
  
"Anu will you HELP already?!" Akei finally stooped over to the female.  
  
"Something is not right........something isn't right at all....."  
  
"Hello....? Explanation here...?" Akei waved a hand infront of the Saber Fang's face. The blank look that crossed her was a frightening sight, and how Akei would hate to admit it...she could be right....something could have been wrong. But....what?  
  
"Ryou....." she whispered and all movements to break through the barrier stopped, eyes held to her.   
  
Akei felt the world spin and his heart drop at the single word.  
  
[Aibou...?]  
  
..............  
  
The yami's eyes went wide, face going an unnatural pale as he stared past Anu, almost afraid to ask the question on the tip of his tongue. "W-what about....Ryou.....?"  
  
The creature's eyes went wide and quickly all her paws hit hard against the ground and she moved out towards where they had left the silver-haired. "No! Something is wrong! Ryou is in trouble, I can sense it!"  
  
Kaiba summoned back his Blue Eyes and followed after Anu and Akei, everyone else moving along with the three in the lead.  
  
The Saber Fang skidded into the building, franticly searching for any sign of Ryou or Duke. There was none. Only a knocked down chair and remains of magic scattered through the room, but that was all. Akei fell against the wall, making no sense again. Kaiba quickly grabbed the two Shinsei sisters without a thought, summoning his Blue Eyes again and boarding with the two upon it.   
  
"We're going to search the alleys and such for him!"   
  
And those three were gone into the air.  
  
Akei was shaking, Yami had no idea what to do, and Anu quickly turned on him. "I told you! I told you not to leave Ryou with Duke! See?! SEE?! He's gone! And that only means Kuthos has him, it is the only thing that could have happened!!"  
  
******  
"How....the heck...do we get through..."  
  
"Fuck it all to hell...." a pause, "I have no damn clue..."  
  
Malik took a glance at his darker half, who was sitting back in the nightly air in the sand. The hikari himself was standing before the shield, hand hovering simple millimeters from the electrifying shock of the barrier. Mariku spoke up again, quietly and actually seriously. "You should be able to break through it with magic."  
  
"Why don't *you*?"  
  
"Because I possess dark magic, you have light. That's why you're a 'light half', baka."  
  
"But I- no- arg! Never mind! Fine, fine, I'll try SOMETHING!" Malik cursed, pressing his palms painfully against the barrier, trying to support himself from not being thrown aback. His energy slowly began to rise as he focused it, sensing his darker half stand besides him and actually try to help steady him.   
  
=It.....hurts.....so....much....=  
  
~*Just relax and try focusing your power..*~  
  
=But I just can't....=  
  
~*Do it!*~ The yami hissed cruelly back, causing the other to jump and force himself to focus on the task at hand.  
  
******  
Yami glared to the Saber Fang, causing the other to drop quiet as he helped steady the blank other. "We'll get him back, him and Yugi included, they'll be ok."  
  
"How do you know that they aren't already dead?!" Akei merely cried back, his mind clicking back into reality for the time being. "We have no mental link to contact them with! What if they're dead and we can't sense it?!"  
  
He was on the verge of going hysterical, just as Yami firmly placed hands on the other's shoulders. "A hunch, a hunch that they are alive. I just know this for a fact."  
  
******  
Malik forced energy into his palms, body, mind, and soul burning as he had to close his eyes from the mad rush. It was a surprise he hadn't fainted, but his darker half seemed to hold him up a bit, enough to allow Malik to push his hands through the barrier.  
  
"Almost through! Don't let your energy down!" Mariku scolded from where he stood besides his other, pulling out the rod and holding it against the barrier to try and widen the opening with it.   
  
'Anytime Akei....anytime to notice we're here could be useful....my light can't open this alone...'  
  
******  
Yami felt a pain in his chest and pulled back away from Akei, cringing as he fell to his knees. Akei moved forward from his spot on the wall, looking down at Yami with confusion. "What is it...?" He muttered, ignoring the fact that his ring was reacting again.  
  
"The outside....I can sense it....the world outside of this....hell hole...."  
  
Akei's eyes widened and he pieced together the information, the outside, and his ring reacting... "Malik! He's found a way through! Anu, Yami, we have to hurry!" The yami hissed out, dashing into the streets and down towards the area they had been earlier. He stopped and turned, seeing Yami following in a limp after him, but Anu poised as if ready for battle.  
  
Yami moved in range and passed Akei to where he saw a small opening in the barrier, yelling back towards the other. "Come on! There are two Saber Fangs in the street, Anu said she'll distract them!"  
  
The silver-haired gave a nod, moving back in a run and jesting an arm forward through the closing hole, giving a sign that Malik was weakening.  
  
"Malik! Mariku! ONE OF YOU, grab my hand!"  
  
******  
Malik was spread out on his back in the sand, the world spinning in various directions.   
  
Lavender eyes were hardly able to focus on the hand reaching out from the blackness, a hand that was snagged by his own yami. Well this was dandy... Malik joined with his dark half and took control, vision stabilizing and being a light half, he was able to (painfully) slip through the small hole of the barrier as it closed behind him.  
  
His glanced up from the ground at Yami and Bakura, ignoring the distant hisses and growls and barks from ahead, that were becoming closer. But before anything could be said, Yami grabbed Malik off the ground by his shoulders and yelled at him face. "Let Mariku take control! If Kuthos knows there is another hikari in the city, all our chances are over!"  
  
"Who's Kutho-"  
  
"DO IT NOW!"  
  
Malik gulped and bodily features shifted as Mariku smirked, chuckling over the other two. "Well, well, well, my good friends!" That remark caused him to be hit over the forehead by Yami. "Hey!"  
  
"You didn't come here just to make fun of us now, did you?!"  
  
"Well-"  
  
"Look. Both of our hikaris have been taken from us, I don't think you want the same with yours, or at least we would hope," Akei murmured.  
  
"No....never..."  
  
"Then-"  
  
"I can't hold them off anymore! There's four now!" Anu was running towards the group of four in a panic, quickly stopping as something bound her down. "Run!"  
  
Mariku gave a smirk. "Alright, I didn't come all the way to Egypt to be pushed around by rapid hounds," he growled lifted so the rod was pointed at one of them. "Let's see if these things like magic." A chuckle arose from his throat, the Millennium Rod glowing in the process. Yami stayed poised, the Dark Magician card in hand as he watched to see what the rod's effect would do to the Saber Fang. Akei was much the same, just a different card in his hand; Doma the Angel of Silence.  
  
"You're mine..."  
  
******  
A fist connected into a near wall of the throne room, sending a crack through the material. Yugi and Ryou, including the two albino Saber Fangs shot a gaze to look at Kuthos (still possessing Duke). Jaded eyes twitched in anger, his true voice cutting through the air in hiss.  
  
"Master...?"  
  
"How dare he.....whoever that bastard is....HOW DARE HE TAKE CONTROL OF ONE OF MY KIN!!!!!"  
  
Violet melded to meet with chocolate eyes, Ryou and Yugi with the same thought.   
  
Malik and his yami have come to town.  
  
******  
  
  
Ohhh.....Kuthos is very pissed, VERY pissed. And he does have plans for Yugi and Ryou, not incredibly *good* plans, but it is something. Let's see...what else now...to JessiChi, yeah, I call Yami Malik Mariku ^^ Sometimes Marik though, it depends on what kind of fic it is, the level of Egyptian kind of stuff is how I figure, Mariku seems more Egyptian. Lol. Now I know there was something else.....arg.....I can't remember...   
  
Review please and I'll see ya next chapter ^^ 


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